The Hands of a Murderer
by HybridScates
Summary: Finn Hudson was an innocent man who went to jail, he is finally released and the men who framed Finn wants to kill him before word gets out. Finn seeks help with the only person who still cares about him. But will their love for each other be enough for what is to come?
1. Prologue

The Hands of a Murderer

**December 9****th**** 2009**

"_The winner of the 2009 Sectionals is the New Directions!"_

_Rachel smiles broadly and lights up, she turns around and hugs Finn. The judge gives Artie the trophy and he lifts it up: Puck, Mike and Matt helps Artie to hold it in the air._

_Finn turns to see the students of Haverbrook School for the Deaf and Jane Addams Academy look at them with hatred in their eyes. He doesn't understand why they are the ones that are angry…they were the ones who cheated._

_The New Directions file into the bus and they travel back to McKinley._

"_I can't wait to see what Mr Schue will do, when he sees the trophy!" Mercedes says and high fives Miss Pillsbury._

_Finn sits on the seat behind Rachel, it's the only way that he can stare at her beauty without anyone noticing. He looks at her hair glistening in the sunlight as she does a victory dance with Mercedes. _

_He's been dying to ask Rachel on a date, but he can't seem to find the right time to do it. Maybe Quinn cheating on him, was the Universe's way of bringing Rachel and Finn together._

_The bus finally arrives at McKinley and Finn sees that school has finished. He finds Azimio and Karoksky walking out with empty slushee bottles. They probably threw it on a nerdy freshmen or something. _

"_Hopefully, Mr Schue is still in his office." Rachel says and reminds everyone of the musical number they are going to perform in front of Mr Schue._

_He sees Puck roll his eyes at Rachel's bossiness and rubs the bridge of his nose with annoyance._

"_Alright, who's going to go to Mr Schue's office?"_

_Everyone steps back including Miss Pillsbury._

"_Fine, I'll do it." Finn exhales and walks towards Mr Schue's office. He knocks on the door._

"_Finn!" Mr Schue says and stands up immediately from his chair: waiting for the results of the show choir competition. "So…what happened?"_

"_Uh-" Finn runs a hand through his hair, "Can you come with me to the choir room."_

'_Crap, Finn doesn't look too happy…they couldn't have lost.' Mr Schue thinks and follows Finn. He opens the door and sees the New Directions standing behind something._

_Rachel and Finn step aside and Artie wheels out holding the trophy, Mr Schue laughs and runs towards the glee club._

"_I knew you could do it, you guys won fair and square: the judges didn't know about the chaos that were happening behind the stage."_

"_Since, you weren't able to see us perform…we put together a special number just for you." Rachel says and Finn pulls his teacher onto a seat. The music starts and Mr Schue side smiles at Finn tripping on his foot when he does a turn._

_**My life would suck without you.**_

_Mr Schue smiles and realises that his life would suck without Finn, Rachel, Puck, Artie, Mike and the rest of the New Directions. The Glee club teacher claps and stands up before walking towards his students and hugging them._

…

"_I'm so proud of you Finn!" Carole comes running into his bedroom and gives her son a big hug._

"_Thanks mom, wait- you're messing up my shirt. I have dinner with Rachel tonight."_

"_With Rachel? Really?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And…who else?" Carole lifts an eyebrow and Finn fixes his collar._

"_And every one from the New Directions…"_

_Carole laughs and playfully hits Finn._

"_It's still considered as a date though… right?"_

_Finn's mum starts to tear up from laughing and she finally walks out of his room._

_Carole waits in the car and Finn comes running down the stairs and into the passenger's seat._

"_Call me when you want to get picked up."_

"_Nah it's fine, I'll walk home. I won't bother you and it's not too far from Breadsticks anyway." _

"_Okay."_

_A couple of minutes later, Finn arrives at Breadsticks and sees that everyone is already seated. He waves bye to Carole before running to get the empty seat next to Rachel._

"_There he is!" Puck says and points to Finn._

"_Thought you weren't going to come?" Rachel says and moves her seat over so Finn could fit._

"_Hello, what would you like to order?" An elderly waitress appears._

"_I want a vegan lasagne." Rachel says._

"_Me too." Everyone looks at Finn._

"_But you're not vegan." Rachel says but Finn just shrugs._

"_It doesn't matter…does it?"_

…

_The New Directions finish their meal and start to head outside. Finn knows he hadn't said a word the entire time: because he was focusing on not vomiting from the eggplant in the lasagne._

_Finn walks with Rachel behind the group._

"_So uh- You look nice tonight." Finn stutters and stuffs his hand down his pocket._

"_You too."_

"_Um- Rachel can I ask you something…it's alright if you say no but it would be nice if you said yes…even though there's no pressure to say no."_

"_What's going on?"_

"_May I take you on a date?"_

_Rachel stops and looks at Finn with large eyes._

"_Is everything alright?" Finn asks _

_Rachel's heart beat fast, it came true! Her dream came true! Finn Hudson just asked her on a date!"_

"_Yes of course!" Rachel screams and hugs Finn._

"_Really? That's really great! Tomorrow then, at night…at Breadsticks." Finn points to the restaurant._

"_I'll see you there at eight." Rachel says_

_Puck and Kurt pull out their car keys and turn around._

"_Okay, you can choose to go with 'gay kid' or me." Puck says and points to each car. The New Directions separate and climb into the cars. Rachel climbs into Kurt's car and looks at Finn._

"_Aren't you coming with us?" Rachel asks_

"_It's fine, I will make you guys cramped and anyway my house isn't too far from here." Finn says and zips up his jacket to keep him warm from the chilly air._

"_Okay, see you tomorrow." Rachel says and pulls Finn to kiss him goodnight._

"_Alright, who am I dropping off first?" Kurt asks._

"_Mercedes first."_

"_Okay…."_

_Kurt pulls up the windows and Finn waves goodbye to Puck and Kurt. He turns around and walks the opposite direction. He kicks a pebble on the path and pulls the hoodie on his head._

_Hey Mom, just walking home now. No need to come get me._

_-Finn_

_Finn puts away his phone and runs across the road when a car starts heading towards him._

_Finn starts to walk along his street when suddenly he hears an ear-piercing scream. Finn stops in his tracks and turns to face the sound._

"_STOP!" The scream starts again and Finn realises that it's a girl._

_Finn runs towards the sound and sees that the further he runs the darker it gets. He's in the 'bad area' of Lima._

"_AARGHH!" Finn whips around to come face to face with an old house. He slowly walks towards it and lifts up the lock on the gate. It makes a creak like the clichéd sounds from those horror movies._

_He opens the broken door to see a muscular man in front of him. Finn turns around but the man grabs his shirt and pulls him inside the house. The man throws Finn on the ground and he sees a girl: that's roughly the same age as him tied with rope on the floor._

_Finn stands up and sees five men surrounding him and the girl._

"_What do we have here?" One of the men with ginger hair says._

"_I'm just a teenager, just let me take the girl home and we'll be out of your hair." Finn says and walks closer to protect the girl._

"_Nup, this girl friended me on Facebook. She told me that her family is driving her crazy and she came here herself." Ginger hair says._

_Finn has heard stories like this: Older men pretending to be teenagers and tricking young girls to come to them._

"_She probably wants to go home." Finn says and looks at the girl crying: her tears staining the cloth tied around her mouth. The girl nods and hides behind Finn._

"_How do you know?" Ginger hair walks closer to Finn and rests his left arm on Finn's shoulder._

"_What are you doing?" Finn moves back, he can smell the overpowering odour of cigarettes and alcohol in the man's breath._

_Ginger Hair laughs with his friends before punching Finn in the stomach. Finn doubles over from the sudden contact causing all of the air in his body to escape. Finn trips over his foot and hits the back wall._

_The girl crawls towards him and touches his leg to wake him up._

_Finn gives a small smile to the girl that means: We will get out of here together._

"_Look, the girl has a crush." A bearded man says and grabs the girl by her hair, Finn stands up to protect the girl but Ginger Hair strangles him._

"_No, we want you to see what happens next." Ginger Hair grabs Finn's face roughly and points him towards the girl. The Girl starts to cry when she realises that Finn can't save her from what is to come._

_Suddenly, a loud gunshot rings: met by the sound of ripping flesh and the girl falls on the floor: Her body lifeless and her eyes milky white. Finn pushes Ginger Hair out of the way and stands up. He walks back when the __blood from her head crawls towards him._

_A door gets kicked down and the sounds of sirens fill the air._

"_Fuck! It's the police!" Beard man says and punches Finn in the stomach once more before shoving the gun in his hand. The men run out of the room._

_Finn can't see, his vision is cloudy but he can feel something in his hand. He walks over to the girl and looks at her dead body._

_He could've saved her-_

_A team of policemen enter the room and stare at Finn with the gun in his hands…standing over the girl._

"_Murder suspect in the room." One of the policemen says and handcuffs Finn._

"_No, no it's not me!" Finn yells but his voice isn't working. He just lies on the floor as the policemen jump on him to tie his hands together._

'_It's not me! There were five men in the room before. They killed her…NOT ME!' Finn thinks._

"_We're arresting you, for murder of a girl."_


	2. A New Life

The Hands of a Murderer

**January 1****st**** 2012**

"Finn Hudson?"

Finn looks up to see an officer standing outside his cell.

"Time to go kid."

Finn stands up and the officer unlocks the door. Did he just say that it's time to go? Finn follows the man into an office; a lady sits behind a table holding discharge papers in her hand. He's finally getting released.

"Please sign here and here." The lady says and hands Finn a pen, the officer hands Finn a box with his street clothes that he wore on the day of his arrest. It hasn't been washed and it smells absolutely horrible.

The lady and the officer give Finn some privacy to change before walking him out of Juvie.

"You're on parole and you need to do community service to pass time. But that doesn't mean that you can act out…because one wrong move and you will be finishing the rest of your sentence back here."

Finn nods and the officer shuts the door, leaving Finn alone: standing outside in the rain.

Finn reaches in his pocket for his phone and calls his mom, hopefully she hasn't changed her number.

The number rings for a couple of seconds before Finn hears a voice that he has been dreading to hear for years.

"Hello? Carole speaking."

Finn grips the phone and coughs.

"Mom? It's Finn-"

The call ends.

His own mother just hung up on him. Finn tries again and sits down on the concrete stair case.

"Mom, please don't hang up, can you pick me up from the-" Finn takes a deep breath before saying the word. "Can you pick me up from the prison please?" Finn holds his breath and listens for a sound from the other side. The call ends again.

Finn wipes his wet face with his drenched sleeve, picks up his bag and starts to walk towards his house. A couple of thugs follow Finn in their car and roll down the windows.

"Whoa, Fuck Haymitch! It's Finn Hudson!" One of the thugs yell, Finn ignores them and trudges on in the pouring rain.

"We would offer you a ride…but we don't want to get killed." Haymitch says and throws his French fries at Finn.

Finn turns a corner and the thugs turn a corner too.

"What is it you want?" Finn says through gritted teeth.

"Was the girl you killed someone you knew?" Haymitch asks and leans out of the window.

"I didn't kill her."

"Sure you did, so was it a stranger?"

"Yes, she was a stranger." Finn agrees to get them off his back.

"He's killing people he finds on the streets." Haymitch pretends to be scared and drives on a large puddle to wet Finn even further.

"So why did you kill her? Are you a psycho or didn't she make herself available to you?" They laugh and wait for Finn to respond.

"Go fuck yourself." Finn says and runs onto a small path so his harassers can't follow him. It's no use to tell people that he didn't kill the girl: no one would believe him anyway. He just has to die with the truth.

Finn arrives at his house and walks onto the veranda.

"Hello?" Finn asks and pounds on the door.

A boy opens the door, his hair is smoothed to one side, he is wearing some kind of jacket with diamonds encrusted on the collar and Finn realises who this boy is.

"Kurt?" Finn asks, Kurt drops his smile and steps back.

"Oh, Finn- I thought you were Blaine."

"Why are you here?" Finn asks. Why is Kurt in his house? The last time he checked: Kurt was living across the road from Mercedes and living with his father.

"Uh- Your mum and my dad got married when you were in- you know- that place." Kurt says and runs a hand through his hair.

His mum and Burt got married? Kurt is his step brother? How come his mother didn't tell him about this?

"Where's mom?" Finn asks

"She just went out, with my dad…on a date."

"Can I come in then?" Finn asks and steps further inside: away from the rain.

"Um, yeah I guess." Kurt says. "I really don't know how to tell you this but, Carole says you can't stay here anymore."

Finn whips around and looks at Kurt.

"What?" Finn can feel his heart drop.

"This isn't your home anymore Finn."

Finn controls his emotions, he can't let Kurt see him cry. Did his mother disown him? Is he basically homeless now?

"Can I get my stuff then from my room- I mean my 'old' room."

"Carole and Burt dumped them in a box outside the bathroom, you can find everything there."

Finn nods and slowly walks up the stairs, even with the people he knows: he feels like a complete stranger. Finn finds a box and he crouches down and opens it, everything is either cracked or broken. Carole and Burt probably threw his stuff in here without a care in the world.

Finn looks to see if Kurt had followed him before opening the door to his old bedroom. He can tell that it's Kurt's now, posters from Vogue magazines are stuck on the wall and the colour palette is pink, red and orange. Finn returns back to his box and opens his bag.

He pulls out his McKinley Titans letterman jacket: which has a massive rip on the side and stuffs it in his bag. Finn pulls out clothes, boxers and pants: it's the only thing he needs anyway. Finn then sees a family photo on the bottom of the box. It's a picture of him, Carole and Christopher when he was a baby. Finn wipes away a tear and gently slides the photo in his side pocket.

He walks down the stairs and sees that his mother had taken his pictures out of her frames and has replaced them with photos of Kurt and Burt. Finn nods and finally accepts his situation. If no one wants him around, then there's no point in staying.

He finds Kurt standing near the bottom of the stairwell with his arms crossed.

"I guess you've got everything you need." Kurt says

"Yeah."

"Finn, where are you going to go?"

"I don't really know?" Finn chokes.

"Look, Blaine is here. Can you go now?" Kurt says and looks away from Finn, who nods and walks out of the house.

Finn takes out his phone and finds a person in his contacts that might help him.

"Hello? It's Finn, I need your help."

…

Finn walks up to a house and presses the door bell. The door opens and he sees a person wearing a short skirt with a reindeer sweater to accompany it. He looks further up and comes face to face with the girl of his dreams. Rachel Berry.

Before he could say another word, Rachel jumps and hugs Finn.

"Oh my god- Finn!" Rachel says and he can feel her body shiver from her sobs. Finn drops his bag and hugs Rachel in return.

"I missed you!" Rachel says and cups Finn's face.

"Me too."

Rachel drags Finn into the house and settles his bag on the sofa.

"I didn't think I would see you again."

"They uh- I'm on Parole."

Rachel nods and runs to get a towel for Finn to wipe his face.

"I still have to do community service though, but it's better then going back to Juvie."

Rachel sits in front of Finn and grabs his hand.

"Finn, how are you? I mean I don't want you hurting yourself because of what you feel inside."

"I don't know, I think my mom just abandoned me and I have no where to go."

"You'll stay here with me!" Rachel says and jumps from her seat.

"But what about your dads?"

"They're on vacation for another week."

"What happens when they come back?"

"We'll deal with it then."

Finn bends over and holds his hands together.

"How can you even look at me? I mean you heard what people said I did."

Rachel lifts Finn's chin.

"I don't believe them, you can't even kill a fly and I remember that you felt horrible for weeks after accidentally smacking a cat in the face."

Finn side smiles and looks into Rachel's eyes.

"You're the only one that believes that I'm innocent."

"Well, it's the truth isn't it?" Rachel says and plants a kiss on Finn's cheek.

"Thanks Rachel."

"Don't thank me yet, we still need to get through senior year in McKinley tomorrow."

Finn forgot that he still needs to finish his senior year, what will all the students think when they see a 'murderer' walking in their school...with Rachel Berry. They'll think he's trying to kill her.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to help you."

Finn nods and stands up.

"Can I take a shower, I stink." Finn asks and Rachel leads him towards her bathroom.

After rinsing all the dirt from his body, Finn fishes in his bag and pull out a t-shirt and pants. He lifts up his pants to see that it's ripped in the worst possible place. He can't wear this in front of Rachel.

"Finn?" Rachel knocks on the door.

"Yeah?"

"I saw your clothes in your bag and their in poor condition. You can use my dad's clothes, I'm sure they won't be angry if we don't tell them."

Finn opens the door after wrapping a towel around his waist and Rachel hands him Hiram's clothes. Even though they are a bit big, Finn still wears them.

He walks into Rachel's room to see her pulling out a mattress from under her bed.

"Here's your bed!" Rachel says: out of breath from all the heaving.

"Thank you Rachel."

Finn sits on his bed and sees that Rachel is rolling towards his side, she hangs her head from the edge of her bed and looks at Finn.

"Anything that's mine is yours." Rachel says.

Finn nods and pulls the cover up to his neck, he can smell Rachel's perfume on the covers and he grabs a section and tucks it under his face. He doesn't want to stop smelling her. Rachel lets her hand drop and she holds Finn's hand.

"I love you." She says and Finn places a kiss on her knuckles. He feels safe whenever he's with her.

She's all that he's got right now anyway.


	3. Outcast

The Hands of a Murderer

"Finn, Finn wake up!"

"Hmmph."

Finn opens his eyes and feels two small hands on his shoulders shaking him gently.

"What's happening?" He asks and turns to face Rachel: who is already changed from her pyjamas.

"Are you going somewhere Rachel?" Finn asks and props himself on his elbows.

"Uh- School?"

Finn jolts up and stares at the clock. Crap! They're going to be late. Finn rushes to the bathroom and brushes his teeth, Rachel throws her dad's clothes at him before placing his bag on his back and shoving a piece of toast in his mouth.

"Thanks." Finn says and ties his shoelace.

"It's alright, c'mon we're going to be late!" Rachel giggles and ushers Finn into the car.

"We have assembly first, apparently Principal Figgins have some announcements before school starts." Rachel says and turns left.

"Then what class do you have after that?" Finn asks hoping to be in the same subject as Rachel.

Rachel pulls into McKinley High, Finn can see students walking into the school and his eyes follow the student body into the gymnasium.

"I have English first." Rachel finally replies.

Finn turns back to look at her.

"I have Science." Finn looks at the ground. He won't be able to see Rachel for two whole periods.

"Hey." Rachel creeps closer to Finn and places a hand on his shoulder.

"Chin up okay, it'll be fine. I'll be with you for the assembly and I'll even see you for Recess."

Finn nods and Rachel kisses his lips.

Finn and Rachel walk out of the car and follow the remaining students into the gym. Finn can hear people screaming and playing instruments in the gym, he can hear a girl singing runs and a boy cracking a sexual joke to his mates.

The moment Finn walks in, the whole student body stops talking and stares at him.

"It's Hudson." One of the students whisper to his friends.

"Jared, I'm scared…what happens if he kills us?" Another student says. Finn stands at the doorway looking at the whole of McKinley with nervous eyes. Rachel walks forward and grabs his hand: leading him towards an empty row.

When he sits down, the people in the row in front and behind him stand up and run to get away from him.

Principal Figgins walks onto the microphone and clears his throat.

"Welcome back to McKinley, just a few announcements before you make your way to your classes. Firstly, the boy's toilets are fixed but there will be no tolerance for anyone soiling school grounds.

Secondly, the people in the debating club will leave at 12:30 for their competition and-" Principal Figgins looks at the school and pulls out a piece of paper.

"-Lastly, Finn Hudson please come to my office after assembly. That is all."

Finn's heart leaps and he wipes his sweaty hands on his 'too big' pants. He looks at Rachel and tries to ignore the fact that all the teachers and students are staring at him.

"It'll be fine, I'll see you at recess okay." Rachel says and strokes his cheeks. People start whispering about Rachel as they leave and Finn has to fight the urge to punch them in the face.

…

"Principal Figgins?" Finn asks and knocks on the door.

"Mr Hudson, please take a seat." The Principal straightens his golden statue on his desk and folds his hands.

"So, you are paroled am I correct?"

"Yes Sir."

"You also have community service?"

"Yes Mr Figgins."

"Okay, I'm only going to say this once. If you harass or physically assault any of my students, I will call the officers with no hesitation. Am I clear?"

"Yes Sir."

"You may leave."

Finn nods and stands up.

"If you step one foot out of line, you are certainly going back to Juvie."

Finn gulps and walk out of the tense office. He gets a text from Rachel that shows him his timetable. It looks like he has Science with Miss Petrie. Finn tucks Hiram's shirt into his big pants and tightens the strap on his waist.

Finn gets his textbook from his locker and runs through the empty corridor to his class.

"Mr Hudson, please take a seat." The teacher says and Finn scans the room to find an empty seat. He sees a free seat next to Brittany; well at least it's one of his friends.

The moment he sits down, Brittany starts to shiver and stand up.

"Miss? Can I move? I don't want to be murdered." The teacher nods and pulls out a chair for Brittany to sit. Well, his school life is off to a great start. Everyone either thinks he is dangerous, a psycho or just plain weird.

The science teacher sits Finn out from the experiments, apparently it would 'do the class well' if he didn't light a Bunsen Burner or touch a glass shard.

He's already missing out on important stuff by sitting out on class work, Finn keeps checking the clock: he really wants it to be recess. He just needs to see Rachel again. Throughout the lesson, the teacher kept staring at him: Finn feels like a small deer getting hunted by a cheetah or lion.

The class finishes and Finn is the first to run out, he follows the student body to the cafeteria and waits for Rachel. Finn grabs a tray and fills it with food before finding a place to sit.

Everyone rejects him or pushes Finn away from the seat.

Finn sees the glee club around a table and he walks towards them.

"Hey." Finn waves and they disperse. A group of the hockey players shove Finn out of the way and claim the table theirs.

The only place left to sit is at the front of the bins. Finn slumps down in front of the recycling bin and crosses his leg. Long time ago, he was the Quarterback, he dated the captain of the Cheerios and he had a good life: people would actually fight each other to sit next to him…now everything is different. Ever since he tried to save that girl those years ago, his life has been turned upside down.

But whatever the case, he can't go back to jail. He just can't.

"Finn?"

Finn looks up to see Rachel holding her tray.

"What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't find a seat."

"C'mon-" Rachel ushers Finn to follow her.

"Where are we going?" Finn asks.

"I sat here when I first started glee club: I'm at the bottom of the social heap so I couldn't find a table: and so one day when I was leaning on this door…I fell back and found this room."

Rachel puts her tray on the brick wall before jumping over it. Finn does the same and follows Rachel into a small room.

"So, do you come here everyday?" Finn asks.

"Yeah, no one knows about it but me…and you."

Finn smiles.

"How was class?" Rachel asks

"Would it be bad if I say it's horrible?"

"I guess not, uh- I found out that you have football training at 3:30, so good luck with that."

"Wait- I'm not kicked off the team?"

"Apparently not, I think that the team is really bad and they need all the good players they can get."

"Can you uh- come with me?"

"That's why I brought my 'Wicked' ipod-" Rachel pulls out her ipod that she dedicated entirely to the broad way show Wicked. "I figured that I needed to get something to pass time."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

…

The school ends, Finn couldn't be happier. All he needs to do now is survive football practice then he could go home with Rachel.

"Hudson!" Finn sees a female walk towards him.

"Excuse me but who are you?" Finn asks.

"I'm the new football couch, Shannon Beiste."

"But where's Ken Tanaka?"

"He left and now I'm in charge. Apparently, you're the Quarterback."

"Yea-"

"If you're not up to my standard when you play QB, you'll be kicked off the team."

"Yes Sir- I mean miss."

"Listen Hudson, you are still the QB because Ken says that you are the only person who can actually play, I'll be doing background research on you."

Finn looks into Shannon's angry eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Get changed in full pads then out on the field."

Finn walks into the change rooms and the football team shove him out of the way.

"Go back to prison, you faggot." Karofsky yells and pushes Finn against the locker.

'C'mon Finn, you're better than them.' He thinks and touches his sprained shoulder.

Finn runs out after wearing his #5 uniform and catches up with the rest of his team. He sees Rachel walk up the stands and sits in the middle to wait for Finn, she waves at him and he waves back.

"Alright boys, Wind Sprints!" Finn follows the football team and they take off on the field. Finn hasn't had a lot of exercise in Juvie but he still had enough stamina to make it to the other end of the field and back.

Finn is the first one to make it back without breaking a sweat and the rest of his team shake their heads at him with jealousness.

"Show off." Azimio flips Finn off and bends over to catch his breath.

"Alright break into groups. Group one: Monkey rolls and the rest of you: Mat Drills."

Everyone groans and the football coach looks at them with a serious face.

"So, what happened in Juvie glee boy?" Karofsky mocks. Finn is actually surprised that David still chooses to harass him after the rumours of Finn killing a girl.

"Mind your own damn business."

"Well, the news is out there already. You killed a fucking girl Hudson. That's low!"

'Low?' A person killing a girl is considered low? Finn takes his helmet off and flattens his hair, he remembers the look in the girl's eyes when she realises that her end drew near and Finn couldn't help her.

"Anyway, our game is in a week: remember that Hudson. Oh yeah just telling you that I'm not going to cover for you. I want to see you get sacked!"

"I'm sure Coach Beiste would love to see you loitering on the field, you can say goodbye to that football scholarship."

Karofsky shoves Finn and he falls back onto the ground.

"Finn!" Rachel stands up and yells.

"I'm fine Rachel." Finn yells back and she gives Karofsky 'the look'.

'Focus Hudson, just ignore Dave: he's not worth it.'

…

Football practice finishes and Finn walk into the change rooms, he wipes the sweat off his face with a towel and drinks his water. He sees Puck come out from the showers and walk to his locker.

Finn quickly changes into his street clothes and slowly moves towards Puck.

"Hey man." Finn says and Puck looks at him.

"What do you want?"

Finn is taken aback by Puck's tone…he is still his wingman right?

"Nothing, just want to talk."

"I don't have time for that."

"But you're not doing anything at the moment."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Puck-"

"Look Rachel is waiting for you, just go home okay."

"I didn't do anything wrong."

Puck slams his locker and looks at Finn, every member of the Titans surround both of them.

"You didn't do anything wrong? You went to prison Hudson. Stop being so stupid!"

"You don't understand, I'm innocent it wasn't me!"

"That's what they all say." Puck retorts and puts his head through his t-shirt.

"You are a massive hypocrite, you went to Juvie too."

Puck drops his bag and holds Finn against the lockers with his collar.

"No, here's the difference Hudson: I went to Juvie for stealing an ATM, no one got hurt but you went to Juvie for shooting a girl in the head!"

"Puck, please you have to believe me!"

"Just run back to your mom and stop talking to me!"

"I don't have one anymore."

"Well good for her."

Finn looks up and he can tell that his eyes start to water.

'Not in front on the football team.' Finn thinks and wipes his eyes.

"I'm done, let's go boys." Puck whistles at Azimio and Karofsky and they grimace at Finn. Finn slumps down onto the bench and puts his head in his hands. The door opens and he sees Rachel pushing against the football team to get into the locker room:

"I heard the conversation."

"Did you?" Finn asks and lifts his head.

"Don't worry about Puck, he's just being a massive douche. When he realises the truth, he'll literally be kicking himself in the ass."

"No, I don't care so much about the truth-"

Rachel looks at him with a confused face.

"It's what he said about my mom Rach, I grew up with her my entire life and now she just abandoned me."

"She's just handling the current situation in her own way… by giving you and her some space. Before you know it, she'll be knocking on my door begging to see you."

"Are you ready to go home now?" Rachel continues

Finn nods and holds Rachel's hand while swinging his football stuff on his shoulder.

What would Finn do without Rachel Berry?


	4. Then that's all that matters

The Hands of a Murderer

Finn lands with a THUD. He looks up to see that he has fallen from the couch in the living room, Finn checks the time and sees that it's midnight: he must've dozed off while watching football.

Finn walks upstairs after fetching a glass of water, Rachel is probably in deep sleep and he tries his best not to make too much sound on the staircase. Finn then sees a glowing light coming from Rachel's room. He opens the door to find Rachel sitting on her computer with the light shining on her face.

"I though you were asleep." Finn says and places the glass on the bedside table.

"Finn…"

Finn hears Rachel's serious tone and he drops his smile.

"What's going on?"

"I was checking my email and this news report caught my attention-"

Finn walks towards Rachel and stands behind her chair.

"**Four girls shot in Mount Carmel"**

"What?"

"Policemen say they found five men running from the scene."

Finn breathes out loudly.

"No way-"

"They were the men who shot 'the girl' right?" Rachel asks even though she knows the answer. Finn nods his head and looks at the graphic photos of the scene, the bullets are in exactly the same place each time.

"Mount Carmel isn't too far from here, what happens if they come here? How is it possible that they haven't been captured yet?-"

Rachel places a finger on Finn's lips to calm him down.

"I'm pretty sure whatever they are doing won't harm us okay. They probably forgot about you already." Rachel says. "And anyways, we don't have to worry, gangs like that often get caught after a few days."

…

"Meet me at the cafeteria okay." Rachel squeezes Finn's hand after walking out of U.S History class together.

"Yeah, I'll just be a minute." Finn walks towards his locker after smiling at Rachel.

"Where do you put your gun Hudson?"

Finn turns around and walks into a muscular chest. Damn it, it's Karofsky

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you have a secret compartment in your locker or something?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Don't play dumb, everyone in the school heard about the new crime in Mount Carmel: it's obvious that the evidence points to you. You are a murderer after all." Karofsky says and moves closer to Finn.

"It goes to show that you can't read: "_Five men were spotted running from the scene," _and if you can count: I'm just one man."

"One of them might be you." Azimio retorts.

"It's not me okay, I was with Rachel."

"Are you planning on sending a bullet through her head too?"

Finn shakes his head and opens his locker.

Azimio comes and slams the locker on his hand.

"Fuck!" Finn shouts and cradles his throbbing hand. "Can you just leave me alone?"

"Come on stop being a fag and fight." Karofsky says and punches the locker near Finn's face. Finn leans back and realises that he's cornered, the rest of the school walk towards them and look at the commotion happening in front of them.

"Kick his ass Karofsky!" A boy shouts and David smirks at him. Finn looks around for Rachel when the football team start to invade his personal space.

"Guys, just go to lunch okay: I don't have time for this." Finn says as he fights the growing urge to tackle Azimio and Karofsky.

"Come on, I invite you to throw a punch." Karofsky swings his arms to the side.

"I'm not going to get into a fight." Finn shakes his head.

"Did Juvie make you soft or something?" A man scoffs and the football team parts like the red sea to let him go through. Finn suddenly feels betrayed when he sees a mow hawk on the boy. It's Puck.

"The Finn I used to know would never back down from a fight. Remember when Mr Schue had us in wheelchairs and you tackled me onto the ground?"

"Actually, you tackled me."

"Don't care- Azimio I insist you have the first punch."

"Puck, It's Finn…your best friend."

"I don't have criminals as my friends."

Finn looks at his shoes and suddenly he is being lifted off the ground by Azimio; two of the players walk behind him to hold his arms. Karofsky comes forward and packs a massive punch into Finn's stomach.

"Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight!" The school chants and punches the air with their fists

Finn falls to his knees and the rest of the football team jump on him. He feels a punch to the left side of his face then to the right and a kick to his back and stomach.

"Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight!"

Finn wants to fight back but he can't, otherwise Principal Figgins will report him to the Officers. Plus, he's on Parole so he needs to be on his best behaviour.

"Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight!"

Finn feels hot liquid trickle from his nose into his mouth, he tastes the metallic taste and realises that it's blood. The weight of the football team suffocates Finn and he tries to push them off.

"GET OFF!"

Finn hears the recording button start on people's phones and he knows that Jacob Ben Israel will put this fight on his blog any minute now.

Then a loud whistle shrieks through the school and Finn feels a heavy load get off him, Coach Beiste runs towards him and shoves the football team off Finn.

"Knock it off and get going!" The Coach roars and the crowd walks away, some people turn off their phones after recording the brawl and starts to send the video to all of their friends in the cafeteria.

Finn lays on the ground with blood running down his nose, a large bruise blackening his face and sweat dripping down his body.

"Come one, gently does it." Coach Beiste supports Finn's back and helps him stand up. "Locker room now." Finn coughs and dabs his nose with his sleeve.

Finn hobbles with his coach to the locker room and he sits down on the bench. Shannon wets a towel and starts to clean his face.

"I'm guessing they started it."

"Yeah they did actually…"

"I uh- use to have a boyfriend called Cooter Menkins-"

Finn looks at Shannon.

"I thought he was the best boyfriend a girl could ask for, he would act all kind in front of my family and friends but at home…things would change: I was a victim of domestic violence."

Finn frown "Why are you telling me this?"

"I heard that you and Puck were like brothers. Real close friends." Coach Beiste crosses her finger. "It's funny how people change…even the best people."

Finn thinks about Puck, he needs his best friend back. He doesn't understand why Puck chose to hang out with Azimio and Karofsky's pose: Puck needs to know that he's innocent.

"Look kid, before I start pointing fingers: I need to know something-"

"What?"

"I did the background research on you: you have a major criminal record don't you? But you were the quarterback who chose friends over being popular, you were in glee club and you stood by and with the-how do I put this- 'losers'."

Finn drops his towel onto the bench. What is Coach Beiste hinting at?

"Is that the kind of stuff that a murderer would do?"

"Wait, you don't believe-"

"You can't be the one that killed the girl those years ago."

All Finn can do is hug his football coach. Finn's heart lifts; at least one teacher believes he is innocent.

"But it doesn't mean that I can help you with your personal life but I can shield you from the abuse here at school."

"Thanks coach."

Shannon touches Finn's shoulder and opens the door for Finn.

"Stay safe kid."

…

"Alright who did this?!" Rachel shouts inside the cafeteria the moment she sees Finn with a cut on his cheek and a dark bruise near his eye.

"Keep it down, it doesn't matter." Finn whispers and pulls Rachel down from the table.

"It does Finn, what happens if they _really _hurt you. Who was it?" Finn sees that Rachel really wants to know who it was

"It was Puck and his mates. But don't look for him okay: I'm fine."

Rachel's eyes widen when she hears that it's Puck…The Puck that is Finn's best friend…The same Puck who would stand by Finn no matter what, all those years ago.

"But on the positive side, I spoke with Coach Beiste and she believes that I'm innocent."

"Really!?"

"Yeah, she reckons I'm not the type of guy to kill a person."

"Finn, that's good news. We have a teacher on our side!"

The end of lunch bell rings and people start moving towards their locker to go home.

Finn twists his lock and takes his bag out, he sees Rachel running past him towards the choir room.

"I gotta get my sheet music from the choir room, meet me outside." Rachel says and Finn shuts his locker and makes his way outside. He fixes his jacket under his bag and leans against the disability ramp railing.

He then sees Kurt and Blaine walk in front of him towards a car- where his mom is waiting. Finn pushes off from the railing and run across the road towards his mom, he cuts in front of a car and jumps three stairs at a time until he reaches a flustered Kurt.

"Hi Kurt, Blaine and mom." Finn greets, Carole tells Kurt and Blaine to get into the car.

"I'm not your mom anymore Finn, I won't have a murderer for a son." Carole says and stares at Finn.

"Just please let me explain."

"Explain what? Why you wanted to kill a girl?"

"No- wait."

Carole waves her hand to tell Finn to stop talking. His heart jumps from his rant and he clenches his hand: he needs his mom to know the truth.

"I just need my mom right now."

Carole shakes her head and opens the door to her car, Finn runs forward and kneels next to the window. He can see Kurt crying in the back and Blaine trying not to look at him.

"Please, I'm your son."

"No, Kurt's my son now." Carole rolls up the window and drive away.

"Wait- STOP!" Finn drops his bag and runs after the car, he sees the school door open and Rachel walks out.

…

"Oh hey Mr Schue, just picking up my music for tomorrow." Rachel says and grabs her papers from the folder.

"Um, can I talk to you about something?" Mr Schue asks and walks towards her with his hands in his pockets.

"Sure."

"What's going on with Finn? Is he living somewhere? How is he holding up?"

"He's living with me at my place…I don't actually know how he's doing but he looks alright."

"…And you're okay with him living in your house: even after what he did?"

"Some people are just misunderstood Mr Schue."

Rachel leaves and walks through the empty corridor until she reaches the exit door, the moment she walks out: Rachel sees Finn drop his bag and run after a car.

…

"FINN!" Rachel yells when she sees Finn trip over and fall onto the road, but he gets up anyway and keeps on running. Carole accelerates and Finn starts to slow down from tiredness.

He runs onto the path and grabs onto a sign post to catch his breath, Finn turns around to see Rachel running towards him with his bag in her hands.

"Finn calm down." Rachel says and cups Finn's crying face.

"My mom- she just-"

"I know…it's alright…I'm here." Rachel says and before she knows it: Finn turns around and cries into her shoulder. She pats his back and runs her hand through his dishevelled hair.

"She just- left me Rachel."

"Shh, I'm here okay."

After a couple of minutes, Finn pulls back and wipes his red face.

"I've got to go to the park for my community service."

"I'll come with you."

"You've done a lot for me, really. I'll meet you back at home okay."

"Okay. Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

"Yeah." Finn breathes.

Rachel kisses him and rubs his face before walking towards her car. Finn picks up his bag and starts to walk towards the park, he sees an officer sitting with a rubbish claw and a yellow cart.

"Excuse me? Hi, I'm Finn Hudson-"

"Oh I know who you are." The officer says and struts towards Finn. "My name is Roz Washington, I'm gonna be your officer for your community service."

Finn nods and walks towards the claw.

"Have you been crying?"

"What- No I haven't." Finn stutters and wipes his face.

"…Alright, off you go then."

Finn drags the cart into a dirty area and flexes the claw.

"What school do you go to kid?"

"McKinley High." Finn dumps an empty water bottle in the cart.

"Can I say that you are the most calm criminal I've ever worked with?"

"Yeah well…" Finn shrugs. If only she knew the truth.

"Last year, I got paired up with a junkie: the same age as you. Man, he cray cray compared to you, I had to bring them tranquilizers every time I see him."

Finn ignores his officer and finds gloves in a hidden compartment on the cart. He slips them on and continues picking up rubbish.

"Did you get into a fight at school?" Roz says and points to his face. "Coz if you started it-"

"Yes I got into a fight, but I didn't attack anyone- I just laid there okay."

"What does everyone in school think of you?" Finn stops and looks at Roz who bends over towards him.

"They're scared of me or they think I'm a psycho…or a weirdo."

"What was life before all this?"

Finn exhales, he really didn't like his officer questioning him about his personal life.

"It was good, I was the jock, I dated the head cheerleader…I had a family who cared about me."

"Would you have imagined things to be like this if you were three years younger?"

"No way Officer."

"You have any friends, kid?"

"Just one."

"Do you trust that person?"

"…With my life." Finn replies and touches the spot on his face where Rachel had kissed him.

"Then that's all that matters." Roz finishes and leans back against the bench.

…

Sorry I had to make Puck a bad guy, I needed a way for Finn to have no friends except for Rachel :D. Thanks for the review guys really appreciate it! I'm not sure if I can post chapters in two weeks time coz I'm going on holiday and I'm not sure that I'll have wifi. But I'll update heaps when I get back so please don't stop reading.

-HybridScates :)


	5. The silver lining

The Hands of a Murderer

"Are you sure it'll be fine?" Finn asks and looks at the glee club door.

"C'mon, it's glee club with Mr Schue." Rachel smiles and pulls Finn towards the choir room.

"But Puck is in there-"

"I'll file a lawsuit if anything happens."

Rachel opens the choir room door and waves hello to everyone, they all roll their eyes but stop when they see Finn.

"Uh- hey guys." Finn nods and stuffs his sweaty hands in Hiram's pants.

Finn and Rachel sit far away from Puck and wait for Mr Schue to come, minutes later the glee club teacher comes strutting in with his briefcase, sheet music and guitar.

"Good afternoon- oh, nice to see you Finn." Mr Schue stops his pacing at stares at Finn. "Anyway-" Mr Schue clears his throat, "Last time I gave you a task to choose a song to sing for someone in the room…maybe to tell them you love them or how you feel about them, so lets get to it."

Mr Schue looks around the room and claps his hands together.

"Santana, why don't you start us of?" Santana stands up and sways towards the front.

"Mr Schue, I'm going to sing this song to everyone in this room except Brittany."

Mr Schue smiles, "Excellent! Giving yourself a challenge I see."

"Well what song is it?" Artie asks

"Hate by Plain White T."

Mr Schue's smile drops and the music starts.

"**Love Love Love Love Love Love, you were everything I wanted**

**You were everything a girl could be**

**Then you left me broken hearted**

**Now you don't mean a thing to me"**

Mercedes frowns and leans forward to listen to the lyrics carefully

**Hate is a strong word**

**But I really, really ,really don't like you**

Mr Schue face palms and wipes his annoyed face, he should've known that at least one person would sing a song like this and he should've known that that person would be Santana. Rachel looks at Finn and lifts both her eyebrows when Santana starts death staring everyone.

**I don't even know what I liked about you**

**Brought you around and you just brought me down.**

The music stops and the only person who claps is Mike, but Tina stops him a few seconds after.

"Um, thanks Santana? Not really what I was looking for but good job…what about you Rachel?"

Rachel squeezes Finn's hand before jumping from the stands and walking towards the centre.

"I want to sing this song for Finn, it's called 'One step at a time by Jordin Sparks.'"

Finn looks at up, he can feel the entire room staring at him but he doesn't care: his love for Rachel is like the expanding universe; everyday his love for her seems to grow deeper and stronger.

"Very nice song Rachel." Mr Schue commends and leans back against his chair next to the piano.

"**Hurry up and wait, so close but so far away**

**Everything that you've ever dreamed of**

**Close enough for you to taste**

**But you just can't touch**

**You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet**

**Wonder why and where and how you're gonna make it**

**Now you're feeling more and more frustrated**

**Now you're getting all kind of impatient waiting.**

**It's gonna happen when its supposed to happen and we find the reasons why…**

**One step at a time.**

Finn walks towards Rachel and embraces her in his arms.

"Why did you choose this song Rachel?" Mr Schue asks

"This song is about hope and believing in yourself and Finn," Rachel looks at him "When you think that you're not good enough or your world is crashing down remember that there is a four letter word that will show you the light…It's hope."

"Thankyou, but there is an eleven letter word that is the silver lining in every dark cloud."

"What's that word?"

"Rachel Berry." Finn says and kisses her on the lips, he hears Puck scoff and storm out of the room.

"Don't worry about him." Rachel breathes during her kiss with Finn. The bell rings and the rest of the new directions pick up their bags and leave.

…

"FINN!" Finn turns around from his locker to see Kurt running towards him.

"Finn, I'm really sorry."

"About?"

"About-About Carole, I swear I would never take her away from you. I cried so much yesterday, I begged for her to stop the car and listen to you but she didn't. And- then she threw away all of your possessions but I was able to retrieve this though." Kurt pulls out a plastic bag and hands it to Finn.

Finn opens the bag and pulls out a picture.

"That's my dad." Finn looks at an old photo of his dad in his army uniform. "I thought I lost this…how did you find it?"

"Before Carole was going to place the box outside she asked if I wanted anything from it and I found the photo scrunched at the right corner of the box: it took a while to get it underneath all the glass…I cut my hand in the process." Kurt explains and shows Finn his bandaged palm.

"Thanks Kurt, I really don't know how to make it up to you."

"Just don't get into trouble okay." Kurt walks away after placing a hand on Finn's shoulder.

Finn holds the picture in his two hands like a piece of precious diamond before walking over to Rachel's locker.

"You look happy." Rachel says and shuts her locker door.

"Yeah, I am."

"Come on, I'm walking you to community service this time."

…

"Hey Ms Washington." Finn greets when he sees his officer waiting for him at the park. He pulls his arm away from Rachel's tight grip and slips on a pair of gloves.

"See you later baby." Finn kisses Rachel before walking over to Roz.

"I'm gonna make you scrub and paint over some graffiti today, man those hooligans who think this is art: I outta whoop their ass."

Finn sees an office wall with bad graffiti drawings all over.

Finn pulls the cart towards him and uses a prickly sponge to cover the entire vandalism.

"So…who was that girl?" Roz asks and sits on the bench table.

"Just a friend."

"Really? Just a friend? Didn't look like that to me…"

Finn side smiles and rubs vigorously with the scrub pad.

"Where did you go today?"

"Uh- Glee club."

"Glee club? You sing kid?"

"Yeah I guess."

"The students still picking on you?"

"Just the football team."

"Oh, I remember when I was your age: the football team were major douchebags. They strutted around the school thinking they were cool, but they were just plain ugly."

Finn nods for Roz to stop talking, if he hears one more sound or question from her: he is literally going to rip his hair out. He can't wait to get back to Rachel, Finn scrubs the wall and prepares the right colour paint.

He thinks about her song for him:

"_It's about hope and believing in yourself." But with Rachel, anything is possible_

…

I thought I would make this chapter uplifting coz the next couple of chaps will be a bit angsty.

Anyway, love my readers.

-HybridScates


	6. Make it stop

The Hands of a Murderer

Rachel stares at the television screen; it has been the most boring three hours of her life. Finn is off doing community service and she is sitting lazily on her couch waiting for him to come home. Rachel looks at her table, she can't wait until the doorbell rings and Finn comes walking through the hallway and into the dining room.

She stands up, grabs two oven mitts and takes out her ratatouille. Rachel hears someone walk up the front steps and knock on the door, Rachel's face lights up: she places the ratatouille on the table and rushes over to the door.

She opens the door and sees Finn looking really hungry behind it.

"Hey Rachel, I'm starving!"

"Hey, yeah- I made dinner."

Finn hooks his jacket on the clothes hangar, he breathes in the delicious aroma wafting in the house and starts to drool.

"Hmm smells nice." Finn says and settles down on the dining chair after washing his hands. He knows how angry Rachel gets when his hygiene isn't up to her standard.

Rachel grabs a spatula and cuts a piece for Finn, who waits impatiently for Rachel to start eating hers.

"Yum, what is this?" Finn says and scoffs down half of his share already.

"Ratatouille."

Finn stops chewing and stares at Rachel with a disgusted face.

"Where did you get the rat from?"

"There's no rat silly, it's a vegetable dish."

Finn smiles at his own stupidity and eats another spoonful.

"Well in that case, I'm going to get some more." He says and scoops more of the food on his plate.

"So, how was community service?"

"It's alright, I mean my officer is cool so it kinda brightens up the service."

"Kurt came up to me after Glee and gave me this." Finn pulls out the photo of his dad and slides it over to Rachel.

"But that's-"

"Yeah, it's my father."

"Does your mom know that you've got this?"

"No, Kurt fished it out of my possessions before Carole threw them out."

Rachel drops her fork and knife and looks at Finn before asking a question that has been on the tip of her tongue.

"Are you ever going to go after your mom, I mean even if she blocks you off completely… are you still going to beg her to take you back?"

Finn wipes his mouth with a serviette and rests his hands on the table.

"I don't know, I'll just hang around and hope that she'll consider me as her son again."

"But?" Rachel continues when she sees Finn wanting to say something.

"But not every one's life is a children's fairy tale. When you're young, adults will tell you a lot of different things but they never mention how fucked up or cruel life can sometimes be."

"Do you regret going after that girl?"

"I don't really know."

Rachel nods and reaches out to touch Finn's warm hands.

"Alright, enough of moping around," Rachel smiles "Let's just enjoy dinner."

"Okay." Finn holds his glass and clinks it with Rachel's.

…

Finn waits outside for Rachel, it's the first time that he has actually woken up on time. He sees her running down the stairs with her bag and smiling when she sees him.

"Good morning Rach."

Rachel gives Finn a kiss and laughs, when she see that Finn had tied a rubber band on the bottom of her dad's t-shirt to tighten it.

"That is super sexy." Rachel giggles when Finn tucks the tied section in his pants.

"Yeah well, it sure beats Kurt's fashion."

"Alright, let's go to school."

Finn breathes in air through his teeth when he touches the tender part of his face. Karofsky may be a major douchebag but he has a mean left hook.

Finn lifts up the car mirror and looks at the steering wheel.

"I miss driving." Finn says

"When are you getting your licence back?" Rachel asks and waits for the green light.

"In a couple of weeks time, it sucks. I miss the freedom and how infinite you feel when you roll down the windows and let the wind fly pass your face."

"Well take me out when you are able to drive."

"Hell yeah." Finn laughs and cheekily side smiles at Rachel. She finally pulls into the McKinley High parking lot.

"Okay, what subject do you have?" It has become a habit of Finn to ask Rachel what subject she's got for the first two periods, he really wants to get through class without having to worry about what people think of him.

"US History."

"Really? Me too." Finn smiles broadly and quickly gets out of the car to open the door for Rachel.

"You're so sweet Finn." Rachel says and together they walk into class. The teacher is already standing at the front of the class and writing her name on the board when they come in.

Finn and Rachel sit together in the left section of the classroom and wait for other students to file in. Once they come in, the students try to get away from Finn by sitting far away from him.

"Alright everybody, settle down…so US history."

People start taking out notes and pens.

"What do you think of, when you hear the name JFK?"

Rachel's hand shoot straight up, Finn looks at her…he has no idea what the fuck teacher is talking about.

"Yes Rachel?"

"The thirty fifth president of the United States: John F. Kennedy." People roll their eyes and Finn frowns at them.

"Does anyone know what happened to him?"

Finn then remembers.

"He was assassinated." He whispers but it is loud enough for everyone to hear, everyone looks at him and whispers.

"Obviously he knows about the assassination, he killed a friggin girl." A boy shouts.

"Yeah- Yes Finn that's correct." The teacher stutters and looks back at the class. "If you ask any American who was over eight in 1963 they will tell you with a detailed story: where they were the moment he was shot."

Finn furrows his eyebrows and listens closely.

"On November 22 1963, United States was overwhelmed with shock and grief"

_On December 9__th__ 2009 Finn's world collapsed._

"President Kennedy was meant to speak at a luncheon in Dallas, the weather was perfect and the president waved to the crowd as his car moved through the city."

_Finn was meant to have a date with Rachel the next day; he refused the car ride from Puck and Kurt and decided to walk home himself. Finn walked along a path towards his home whilst kicking something- a rock or pebble?_

"The President was exposed to the atmosphere, he didn't have a protective cover over his automobile."

_Finn didn't have any weapons except for his jacket._

"The parade moved towards Dealey Plaza."

_Finn heard a scream and came face to face with a house- a house that would soon unfold with horror and nightmare._

"Gunshots tore through the air."

_The men placed a gun next to the girl's head and pulled the trigger, the bullet ripped through her head and blood splattered everywhere._

Finn closes his eyes and ears from the flashbacks and the story, the two scenarios are so fucking similar. Finn starts to tear up and shiver.

"The President was dead within minutes-"

_The girl's lifeless body, her white, cold empty eyes that sucked him in like a black hole. The creamy white foam that flowed out of her mouth and her blonde hair matted with the blood that gushed out of the hole in her head._

Rachel looks at Finn who starts to bawl silently, his face: pale with fright and his hands shaking violently on his ears.

"Finn! Finn what's going on?"

"The Texas Governor: John Connally was badly wounded in the horror."

_Finn's entire body wreaked with pain, the men just kept punching him until the cops came. The cops kicked down the door…they stared at the girl…then at him…they pushed him onto the ground: knocked the gun out of his hand…and clicked handcuffs to hold his arms together…_

"MAKE IT STOP!" Finn whispers to Rachel, students around the classroom start to stare at Finn.

"Baby, what's happening!?"

Finn closes his eyes but he can still see vivid images of the assassination of 'the girl' unfold in front of his eyes.

"Lee Harvey Oswald who was the murderer was arrested, he was later shot by a nightclub owne-"

Finn reaches his breaking point: Still with the image of the five men in front of him, Finn pushes his desk forward and it crashes against the whiteboard. Finn runs out of the room.

"FINN!" Rachel shouts.

"THE KID'S A FUCKING PSYCHO!" The whole class rants and shouts.

Rachel apologizes for the teacher even though it was her fault for telling an assassination story especially with Finn in the room.

"Finn?" Rachel shouts and looks around. Where has Finn gone?"

…

He needed to get out of the class room, the story, the characters…the murder: it sounded exactly like what had happened back in December. Finn runs to the men's bathroom and washes his sweaty face.

He looks at himself in the mirror: what has happened to him? This isn't him…this wasn't the Finn Hudson he used to know. Finn leans against the wall and slides down.

He hears soft footsteps running towards the bathroom, the door opens and Rachel slowly walks in: popping her head through the doorway first.

She sees Finn sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

"Finn?" Rachel breathes and he lifts his head. "Oh my god Finn!" She runs and hugs him, Rachel doesn't care that her dress lands in a mysterious puddle of yellow liquid she just needs to be there for Finn.

"I'm sorry I scared you, it's just that the story the teacher was telling us about-" Finn shakes his hands to try to explain. "-It reminded me so fucking much about-"

"-About 'the girl'. Rachel interrupts and Finn looks at her with his sweet, adorable brown eyes. The great thing about Rachel is that she understands the hardest things to explain.

"Rachel, I can't go back to that class. Not with the teacher and not with the students."

"No, we aren't. That's why we are going to sit here until the recess bell rings…but you have to hide me if a boy comes in here."


	7. Breaking Point

The Hands of a Murderer

Rachel doesn't care that she's missing US history, she's actually happy to be sitting here with Finn in the boy's toilets…she's pretty sure that the teacher is happy without a rumoured murderer in the room too.

It's not exactly romantic sitting on the wet floor of a stinky room but whenever Finn's around: she feels safe.

"Thanks for following me."

"It's us against the world isn't it?" Rachel replies and entwines her fingers with Finn's

"Yeah it is."

The recess bell rings and Finn helps Rachel up, they wash their hands and Finn has to remind Rachel that the urinals on the walls aren't sinks for short men.

They walk towards the cafeteria holding hands, Finn grabs a tray for himself and Rachel and fills it with food before sitting on an empty table.

"We finally have a table." Rachel realises

"Hey, I'm just going to get a drink. I'll be back in a flash." Finn says and stands up to walk towards the vending machine just outside the cafeteria.

Suddenly, he feels two hands on his back. Finn turns around thinking its Rachel but drops his smile when he sees that's it a girl from the Cheerios.

"Hey Finn." She says seductively.

Finn rolls his eyes. "Um, hey?" He puts his coins in the vending machine for a bottle of water, but she grabs it from the tray before him.

"I heard about what you did."

"Did you?" Finn asks and stares at her with an annoyed face.

"You're an even bigger badass than Puck."

"Really…" Finn crosses his arms and rubs the bridge of his nose, he really needs to get back to Rachel now.

"Him and I dated for a while but I found out that he stole an ATM machine, that's lame. Then I heard about this Finn Hudson," The Cheerios runs a finger down his chest, "You went to Juvie for a massive crime and you're the talk of the whole school so it would make me very popular if I dated someone like you."

"Look can you give me back what I paid for, I've gotta get back to Rach-"

"Rachel Berry? What are you doing dating her? Say if you dated someone like me…"

"Yeah…not gonna happen. I'm dating Rachel."

"But she's so ugly and annoying."

Finn really wants to tell the cheerio that she's ugly and annoying.

"You know what-" Finn turns around and buys another water bottle. "See you later." Finn gets the new water bottle before the Cheerios does and walks back to the cafeteria.

He sees Rachel wiping her mouth and finishing her recess.

"Sorry for the hold up." Finn apologizes and sits back down.

"It's alright."

Finn sits closer to Rachel and looks at her.

_Kiss her. Kiss her. Kiss her. _

Finn really wants to, this reminds him of the first time they kissed in the auditorium after they had performed push it.

Finn leans in and his lips brushes hers-

"Aw, Finny has a girlfriend. To bad she's too dumb to figure out what you did."

Finn slams the table and comes face to face with Puck and three guys from the football team.

"Don't talk about her like that."

"I can do whatever I want-" Puck stops and gives Finn a little shove before saying the next word, "Fag."

Finn sees Kurt flinch at the word fag and tells Rachel to stand up,

"Come on Finn, let's go." She says and starts to walk out of the cafeteria

But Puck manages to grab Finn's sleeve, he reaches in his bag and pulls out a slushee.

Puck swings the slushee forward and Finn closes his eyes and waits for the icy coldness to sting his face and eyes…but it never comes. Finn opens his eyes and sees Rachel dripping with blue liquid.

Puck and the three guys laugh and he takes a photo of Rachel, Finn clenches his fist: he can feel Rachel telling him to calm down.

"She got what she deserved."

All hell breaks loose, Finn jumps on Puck and the three guys jump on him. Finn pins Puck with his knees and punches him on the nose: he can feel it break underneath his knuckles. Puck screams and rolls over to pin Finn on the ground.

"Finn!" Rachel screams but Finn can't control himself from Puck anymore.

"Get off me!" Finn yells and stands up with all his might and throws Puck onto a table, the legs of the table snap by the sudden weight and collapses

Students start to stand up and walk slowly towards the door, Finn knows that he looks like a psycho but the only way to piss him off is to hurt Rachel.

Puck tackles Finn and he hits his head on a chair. Finn grabs Puck's neck and smashes him onto the ground, he can hear Rachel gasp when his shirt rises up and she sees a massive scar on his back and that's when he stops fighting and stands up slowly to look at her.

"Watch OUT!"

Finn turns around and Puck strikes him with a chair. Then there was darkness.

…

_The policemen dragged him into the car, everything seemed to move so fast. One second he was having dinner with the new directions, the next he was sitting in the back of a policeman's car with handcuffs on._

_They brought him into a room with an FBI agent and he sat down in front of the man. He can't remember what the man asked him but knew that the agent started screaming at him…and he started crying._

_They called his mom and he remembered the look on her face when she saw him behind bars. The look of anger, disappointment and fear, it's like she didn't even know who he was anymore._

Finn starts to wake; he doesn't want to open his eyes yet. Finn can see a circle of light underneath his closed eyelids, his head hurts so fucking much. He can start to hear voices surrounding him, Finn opens his left eye and he sees the school nurse holding a small torch to his eyes.

Rachel runs over to Finn and helps him up, he can see Puck sitting on the table holding a bloody towel to his nose and looking at him with murderous eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Principal Figgins walk into the overturned cafeteria and stares at Puck on the table and Finn on the ground looking dazed.

"Hudson, Puckerman: IN MY OFFICE NOW!"

The Principal walks over to the two boys and holds them by their collars, Finn and Puck slump down in the chairs and look at Figgins.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Puck fucking sucks!"

"What the hell!? Finn just couldn't take a small joke about his precious girl-!"

"-He threw a slushee at her."

"You broke my fucking nose-"

"You smashed a chair in my face!"

"…And that's what caused you to assault Puck." Finn can't believe the principal is choosing Puck's side rather than his.

"But Puck threw a chair to my face and I blacked out, I'm sure that that's assault."

"I'm sorry but I have to call your officer."

Finn's eyes widen.

"NO WAY, YOU CAN'T. PLEASE DON'T CALL MY OFFICER! I'M NOT GOING BACK TO JUVIE!"

"Calm down Mr Hudson."

"YOU CALM DOWN, EVERYONE CALM DOWN, I'M NOT GOING BACK TO JUVIE!"

"Hey Principal Figgins, Rachel Berry told me to come here." The doors open and Mr Schue comes in wearing his vest.

"I'M NOT GOING BACK TO JUVIE!"

"Stop being such a girl Hudson!"

Finn looks at Puck and wishes that he did more damage to him than a broken nose.

"What happened?"

"Finn and Puck had a fight, I'm going to call the officer and take Finn away from McKinley."

Mr Schue furrows his brows and leans on the table.

"But it seems like you're using the past to decide the solution to the problem, Finn might not even be to blame here."

Principal Figgins gets out of his chair and tells Mr Schue to follow him.

"William, Finn Hudson has had a criminal record for assaulting people. Am I the only person to think, that Finn was the one that started the whole commotion?"

"But using Finn's past to judge him right now isn't fair-"

"Mr Schue, he is a murderer."

"What about Santana and Lauren Zizes?"

"What about them?" Principal Figgins exhales.

"Lauren and Santana would assault each other every day, remember when Lauren smashed Santana into the lockers and fractured her arm. You didn't do anything then."

"Yes but-"

"There's still a precedent."

"Fine, I'll give them both detention. But why do you always do this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You always protect that Finn Hudson."

"What are you saying, that I'm-"

"Will, I'm warning you that kid is bad news. It'll do the school good if he's back in jail."

Mr Schue and Figgins walk into the office and dismisses the two teens.

"You're going to hell." Puck whispers and walks away from Finn. Finn opens the door to the male's bathroom and washes the dried blood from his lip and the cut on his head, from where the chair had hit him.

He's too embarrassed to see Rachel, what happens if she hates him now? What happens if she stops being his friend?"

Finn flicks the water from his hands and walks out. Finn bangs his head on the wall when he realises that he's got a football game tonight. It's obvious that he's going to get sacked, his right guard Karofsky won't protect him from the line backer and Puck…it'll be a miracle if they work together.

"Finn!"

Finn sees Coach Beiste running up to him.

"What the hell happened?"

"Puck threw a slushee on Rachel and I jumped on him…then he threw a chair on my face and I blacked out."

The coach looks at him sympathetically, Finn knows that Beiste will probably give him a lecture on behaving properly around douchebags…but instead she gives him a hug.

Shannon wraps her arms around Finn, Finn embraces his football coach and starts to cry. He can't believe that he's crying, Finn can feel his body reek with every sob but he can't stop the tears from streaming down his face.

He can hear Shannon saying that everything's going to be okay but Finn can't help to think that everything's going to suck.

"I'm so sorry Finn." She says and pats his back

…

Finn avoids Rachel for the entire day, he doesn't know what to say to her and frankly he's quite scared on what she might think of him. He can't bear to lose his only friend. Finn stands in the cold atmosphere waiting for Coach Beiste to call the football team in for instructions.

He then sees her walking towards him with a number five painted on her face, he smiles: she still loves him.

Finn runs to Rachel

"Missed you today."

"I'm so sorry for avoiding you, I was just scared."

"No, don't worry and do you remember what I told you?"

"What?"

"I'll stand by you forever."

Finn nods and hugs Rachel, she pats his cheek before taking a seat in the front row of the stands for the football game.

Finn runs back to the change rooms and sees the football team standing in a circle.

He gets to his locker and grabs his helmet, shoulder pads and uniform.

Coach Beiste opens the door and blows a whistle.

"Everybody out on the field!"

Finn wears his helmet and follows the coach, they run onto the field and the crowd starts to scream.

"Alright listen up Titans, all I'm gonna say is…listen to Finn. If you don't I'm kicking you off the team."

Puck rolls his eyes and Azimio and Karofsky scoffs.

"Did you hear that, you three?"

The whistle blows and Finn calls the plays, they clap in the huddle and line up in front of the other team.

Another whistle blows and Finn runs with the ball.

"GO, GO, GO!" Shannon shouts, Karofsky looks at Puck and smiles "KAROFSKY, GET THE LINEBACKER!"

Dave steps aside and the linebacker sacks Finn onto the ground.

The coach throws her clipboard onto the ground and looks at Karofsky. Finn gets up and catches his breath, he forgot how painful it was to get sacked.

"FIRST FREAKING WARNING KAROFKSY!" Shannon yells and points at Dave.

…

Half an hour into the game, the score is neck and neck.

"Good job, good job." The coach nods her head at Finn and her eyes follow the team into the huddle.

"Alright, let's do this." Finn says and calls the final plays. The team claps and return back to the centre, Finn looks around and sees Rachel waving a McKinley High Titans flag at him. He then looks to the right and his heart drops.

Carole, Burt, Kurt and Blaine come out of the car and walk towards the stand, everything seems to move in slow motion. Finn can't hear anything, all the screams, shouts and cheers become muffled…his mom is walking in front of him.

Rachel follows Finn's eyes to see Carole holding hands with Kurt and walking up the stair. No way, Not now.

Finn stands up from his crouching and takes off his helmet, his mother is right there! What is he doing just standing here?

"What are you fucking doing?" A member of his football team asks and shoves Finn.

"Mom." Finn calls but his throat is getting caught and no sound is getting out. A whistle blows, Finn suddenly is brought back to the football game and the ball falls out of his hands. The opposition runs behind him and takes the ball into their goal.

The referee puts his arms up and declares the other team the victors.

Puck rips off his helmet and throws it on the ground with such force that it cracks.

"FUCK YOU HUDSON!" Puck shouts and takes off his uniform before walking back to the change rooms: red faced.

"Finn, what happened?" Shannon runs up to him.

"My mom, she- she-."

"Don't worry," Finn looks at his coach with a confused face, normally she would've ripped his head off by now for losing a game. "I know how hard your life is and I'm not going to bite your head off for it."

Finn looks at Rachel and she shrugs her shoulders at their loss.

…

Finn sees Rachel waiting by their car and he runs up to her.

"Hey." Rachel kisses Finn after he throws his duffel bag in the boot of the car. "Don't worry about the game, people win and people lose."

"Yeah well, it's nothing new... We lose every time."

They climb into the car and drive home; Finn can see Rachel wanting to ask him something. But she holds her tongue during the entire ride home, Finn wipes his sweaty hair and rolls down the window to cool himself off.

"If Carole didn't come, do you think that we would've won?" Finn asks and looks out of the window.

"I don't know….maybe?"

Finn nods and looks at Rachel.

…

He washes his toothbrush and places it back in the holder, he washes his face and wipes it with a towel before joining Rachel in the bedroom.

"Uh- Finn?"

"What's wrong?"

"I need to ask you something…"

Finn turns around and sits with Rachel.

"When you and Puck were fighting in the cafeteria, your shirt rose up and I saw a scar on your back-"

Finn knows what Rachel is trying to say.

"How did you get that? I know that your collision with the chair and table won't be able to cause a scar like that."

"When I was arrested and they said I was guilty, they put me in a cell with two other guys. One day when I was sleeping, one guy pulled me out of bed and beat the living crap out of me. The other…he grabbed a sharp piece of metal that broke from his bed and stabbed me with it."

"The officers came and pulled the guy off me and brought me to hospital, that's why I was paroled: I had "good behaviour" in hospital and they released me a couple of months before my sentence finished."

"What happened to the other guys?"

"They're still in jail...this is why I can't go back to Juvie: I'm petrified about another inmate hurting me."

"Well, you're safe with me now." Rachel says and cuddles with Finn in bed, she turns around so the point of her nose is brushing the crook of Finn's bed.

"You're beautiful." Finn says and turns his head towards Rachel after closing the bedside lamp.


	8. Near danger

The Hands of a Murderer

Finn walks through McKinley on the last school day of the week, a lot of people have been giving him death stares because it was his fault that they lost yesterday's game.

"Nice going idiot." Finn turns around and looks at the guy nervously.

"Why aren't you kicked off the team yet?" A girl says and flicks her hair at him. Finn walks out of the hallway and towards the gates, he sees Rachel waiting for him at her car and he runs towards her.

"Ready to go home?"

"Yes I am." Finn laughs and buckles his seat belt.

"How's everyone since the game?"

"I think the whole school hates me."

"Well it's their loss because they can't see how awesome you are." Rachel takes a quick look at Finn before accelerating pass the green light.

They finally arrive at home and Finn falls onto the couch in a heap.

"I'm so tired, who invented school anyway."

"I think it was in 1369 and a man named Harry School had an idea of getting kids in the neighbourhood together and locked up. Another dude probably broadened that idea." Rachel replies

She drives into the driveway and park the car, Finn swings his bag over his shoulder and opens the front door.

He wipes his tired face with his hands and sees Rachel walking over to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Finn asks and sits up from the couch

"Making diner."

"Can I help?"

…

Finn waits hungrily at the table, maybe helping Rachel make dinner wasn't the best idea. He either wanted to eat the food or lick the cutlery, but at least it was fun.

Rachel opens the oven and the smell of chicken pot pie fills the air, she sets it on the table and places a napkin on her legs.

Finn lifts his glass and makes a toast.

"Here's to us."

"Yes, Here's to us." Rachel hits her glass with Finn's. Her Neighbours are having a party next door and Finn really wants to tell them to 'shut the fuck up.' Rachel looks out of the window and sees the men swinging beer around and the women dancing to a bad song.

"The neighbours are seriously ruining this dinner date." Finn tries to ignore the laughs from next door.

"I made desert!" Rachel remembers but Finn stops her and pulls her close to him. He closes the distance between them and mashes his lips with hers, Rachel pulls away and holds Finn's hand towards the fireplace in the lounge room.

She leans back and Finn follows her on the floor, she locks her arms around his neck and kisses him more passionately then the last. His tongue waits at the entrance of her mouth and she parts them slightly. Rachel grasps Finn's hair and their breathing becomes ragged in the heating action.

He can see a hickey start to form at the bottom of her neck and he smiles.

"I love you so much Rachel."

"Me too."

The Neighbours turn the volume up and Finn and Rachel can hear the dog barking in the distance.

Finn moves his head slowly towards Rachel's neck-

BANG-

Loud screams and crying fill the tense air.

Finn falls off Rachel and lands on the floor with a thud.

"What the hell was that?"

"What's going on?" Rachel asks and her eyes follow Finn to the window. He slowly lifts up the glass and pokes his head sideways to look at the Neighbour's backyard.

"I don't know, it's too dark: I can't see a thing."

"Wait Finn, close the window. You don't know who or what is out there!" Rachel squeals and checks the front door to see if it's locked.

"Stay here Rachel I'm going to check it out."

"No-"

Finn sees Rachel stand up and fix her dress.

"I'm coming with you, it's better than staying home alone."

They wear their shoes and walk over to Rachel's Neighbour's house.

Finn can hear mournful screaming and crying and he slowly peeks his head through the corner.

Rachel hold onto Finn's shirt and follow him into their backyard, Rachel sees her neighbours in circle surrounding a girl.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Finn asks, then suddenly the mother grab onto his collar.

"Help us please." She says with a thick accent

Finn's eyes widen with fear.

"What happened?" Finn holds onto the woman's hand in an attempt to calm her down but he pulls her towards her daughter on the floor: with a bullet wound on her waist.

"Rachel, call 911."

Rachel nods and picks up her phone.

"How did this happen?"

"We were having a party, then suddenly we heard this loud noise and Shelly: my daughter dropped on the floor."

Finn finds a t-shirt on the clothes line and places pressure on Shelly's wound. He lifts up her head and looks into her eyes.

"You'll be alright okay, the ambulance are going to come and you're going to be live."

Shelly stares at Finn with fear in her eyes, she holds onto Finn's hand with such force that he winces at the pinch. Finn has to close his eyes to calm himself down from the blood.

_The girl, the girl, the girl, the lifeless girl, the dead girl…_

"Finn, do you want to take a break? I can hold the cloth to her waist if you want."

Finn wipes the sweat from his face with his shoulder.

"No, it's fine."

He tries to ignore the sound of her family crying, it reminds him so much of what happened back in December.

The ambulance sounds and Rachel directs them to the girl, the paramedics unfold a stretcher and run towards Finn.

"Sir, we've got her now. You did a good job."

Finn nods and helps lift the girl on the stretcher before he walks over to Rachel and puts his arm around her waist.

"I'm so proud of you Finn."

Finn looks at Rachel and smiles.

"Thankyou." The mother says and grips Finn's hand.

"Um, can I ask you something?" Finn asks the mother.

"What did you see? Did you witness a figure standing somewhere or something?"

"Oh, we saw nothing. The only thing that appeared was the bullet."

Finn scratches his chin, how can a person shoot someone without being noticed especially in a closed off area such as a backyard?

"Gunnar? Gunnar?" The small child from the family walks around the backyard.

"What are you looking for?"

"My dog, he was barking before but now I can't find him."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Finn comforts and follow Rachel out of the backyard.

"I'm going to search every room back at my house, you don't know what might be hiding behind doors." Rachel says and hides under Finn's jacket.

…

"We can go visit her if you like…you know" in hospital."

"Is it alright if I take a look in the backyard first? I just need to see things for myself."

"Okay…but don't get shot okay." Rachel replies reluctantly and closes the window before snuggling with Finn in her bed.

…

Finn pats around Rachel's side of the bed with his eyes closed, he opens his eyes and sees that she's not there. He rubs his tired face and pulls himself out of bed, Finn walks downstairs and sees a note on the fridge telling him that Rachel had gone to the hospital to visit her Neighbour.

Finn takes a shower and finds Hiram's clothes in the wardrobe, he puts them on and runs outside. Finn climbs onto the brick wall and heaves himself over the fence: into the Neighbour's yard.

Finn lands with a loud thud and inspects the yard, he walks over to the spot where the girl was…and he realises how much blood she had actually lost. Finn stands up quickly and hits his head on the rope clothes line.

Finn looks at it and realises half on the fibre is cut off from the top, Finn finds a crate and looks at the rope carefully. The top half of the rope has been snapped but it's not a clean break.

Finn looks at the position of the girl and compares it to the clothesline, it's in the perfect alignment with each other. That means that the bullet accidentally scraped the rope while heading for the girl.

Finn hops down: if the shooter was at eye level he would have needed to be in the backyard pointing the gun at the girl, but Shelly's mom said that she saw no one and either way the rope is above the girl.

If the shooter titled the gun upwards, the bullet would've only hit the rope and it's impossible for it to change direction and suddenly head downwards towards the girl…unless the shooter had an above ground advantage.

Finn looks around the backyard and sees a dented gutter. The shooter was on the roof, it gives the bullet the perfect angle to accidentally cut the clothesline before piercing the girl.

Finn knows that the shooter must have climbed onto the roof at the front of the house when the Neighbour's were partying. Finn pulls the backyard table closer to the shed, he heaves himself onto the roof of the shed before jumping to the house's roof.

Finn then sees a trail of blood and he lifts his gaze. Finn gags at the smell and spends a couple of minutes dry heaving from the edge of the roof.

There, in the middle of the roof is the Neighbour's dead dog. The dog has maggots and flies picking at its rotten flesh.

The dog was barking the night before…probably trying to warn his family about the shooter. That's why it stopped barking, the shooter probably wrung its neck and brought it to the roof to hide the evidence.

This isn't the work of the five men right? It has been a couple of years…surely they can't be in town.

Finn's eyes widen with realisation, if killers were next-door yesterday night…where are they going to go tonight?

Finn jumps from the roof and runs towards the hospital, they need to get out of the house now!


	9. Run

The Hands of a Murderer

Finn runs towards the hospital, they need to get out of the house tonight. He runs a red light and ignores the honking cars beside him. Finn sprints into the hospital and walks over to the receptionist.

"Do you know where Shelly- um Shelly-" Crap Finn never asked for her last name.

"Shelly who?" The receptionist asks.

"The girl that was brought in last night with a bullet wound on her waist."

"Are you a guest?"

"Yeah, I helped her last night and I was wondering if I could visit her."

"Alright, room 303."

"Thankyou!"

Finn runs over to the lift and presses the button, he waits for the doors to open before hitting level three several times.

"Finn!" Rachel calls when she sees him step out of the lift. Finn runs towards her and places all his weight on a shelf to catch his breath.

"Have you been running?" Rachel asks and hands Finn her water bottle.

"Rachel, I need to-" He takes a deep breath "-Tell you something."

"What?" Rachel looks at Finn with a worried face.

"We have to-"

"You guys can visit Shelly now." The doctor interrupts and Rachel turns around to see nurses walking out of the ward.

"Come on, let's see Shelly." Rachel holds Finn's hand and leads him to the ward.

"But the-"

"Hi Shelly, do you remember us? From last night?" Rachel asks and quickens her pace.

"Of course I remember you." Shelly flattens an area of her quilt and looks at Finn.

"How are you doing?" Rachel continues to ask.

"Good, thanks to your brother!"

Rachel looks at Finn and smiles.

"Uh, he's not my brother."

Shelly looks confused and Finn stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"He's my boyfriend."

Finn's face lights up, did Rachel just call him 'her boyfriend'? If no one were in the room, Finn would've already jumped up and down from happiness.

"Oh." Shelly's face falls and looks to the side. " I was going to ask your boyfriend to go on a date with me after I am discharged from hospital." She explains in her thick accent.

"Look, there's a guy out there for everyone." Finn says.

Shelly looks up and smiles at Finn.

"How you okay?-"

"I'm scared to death, out of everyone in the neighbourhood: why did they shoot me? I haven't done anything wrong have I?"

"No, you haven't." Rachel replies.

"Bad people work like that, they find innocent people off the streets and ruin their lives by a click of a gun."

Rachel looks at Finn, she knows he is speaking from experience. It's what happened to the girl back in 2009.

…

"Before, in the lobby: you wanted to tell me something?" Rachel asks and runs her hand up and down Finn's arm.

Finn looks at Rachel and drops his smile.

"The five men that killed…'the girl'. I have a hunch that they were the ones that shot Shelly."

"What do you mean?"

"We are in danger Rachel."

"How do you know that it's not just a one off thing?"

"Think about it, we first heard that they killed several people in Mount Carmel then they shot Shelly next door: they seem to be getting closer to us each time. They are killing and injuring people…to give us a sign that they're close and that they are powerful."

Rachel exhales and sits up.

"Okay, where do we go?"

"We can't go back to your house…so I guess we're staying here in the hospital overnight."

"What about my dads? They're coming back home soon, what happens if we had already left and the men are in the house?"

"Do they think that I'm a murderer?"

"I don't know, they're a big follower of the news so I guess they might know."

"That would make it hard for them to trust me."

"Yes, but we are going to tell them the truth about you."

Finn side smiles and lets Rachel rest her head on his shoulder. He just hopes that he's wrong about the men.

The lift door opens and Shelly's family run into the lobby.

"Thank you, thank you, thankyou!" The mother runs to Finn and starts kissing his cheeks.

"It's alright."

"Thank you, thank you, thankyou."

"No really, it's alright." Finn tries to put on a smile but it's kind of hard when an elderly woman is slobbering your face with big wet kisses.

Finn can hear Rachel covering her mouth to not laugh, he pulls away from the mother.

Shelly's family run into the ward and spend a couple of hours there.

"Excuse me?" A nurse asks.

"Yeah?" Finn replies.

"Are you going to stay here overnight?"

"Yeah we are." Finn hopes the lady doesn't kick him and Rachel out.

"Are you going to spend the night out here?" The nurse stares at the uncomfortable seats

"Um yeah?"

"You know that there's an accommodation section on the other side of the hospital."

Finn looks at Rachel and smiles.

"It's okay-"

'What's Rachel doing?' Finn thinks.

"-We have to be with Shelly."

Finn looks at Rachel with sad eyes.

"But there's a _bed_ in the accommodation section…"

"What about Shelly, we can't leave her by herself whilst she's traumatised."

"Fine." Finn reluctantly agrees and leans his head back on the wall.

…

Finn turns left and turns right, he can't find a comfortable position on the chairs. He lies down and takes up six seats, Finn looks around and sees a vending machine…he_ is_ kinda thirsty-

BANG

Rachel grips Finn's hand.

"Finn, you heard that didn't you."

"Yes." They whisper and look at the door to room 303.

"Is there someone in there?"

"I don't know."

Finn hears footsteps walking around in the ward and equipment falling on the floor.

"Rachel, get up slowly and walk towards the lift." Finn whispers and stares at the door.

"Shelly is in there!"

Finn bumps into a nurse, he can tell that she's heard the loud noise too.

"I just called the police, the other doctors and nurses are evacuating everyone from the hospital." The Nurse says.

"It's a gun shot isn't it?"

"Sounds like one."

"Rachel, get out of here with the nurse-"

"No Finn, we stick together."

Finn looks around and finds an empty syringe in a container, he holds it as a weapon and walks towards Shelly's ward.

He makes it to the door and pushes Rachel behind him.

'One, two, three." Finn gestures before swinging the door open-

Nothing-

There's no one there-

Finn looks behind the door and turns on the light.

"AARGHH!" Rachel lets out an ear piercing scream. Finn follow Rachel's gaze and sees a large blood stain coming from the covers.

Finn's heart quickens as he walks over to a covered Shelly, he slowly pulls down the quilt-

Fuck-

It's Shelly with a gun wound on her head, her eyes screaming death, her body lifeless-

_The men shot the girl… white foam crawling out of her mouth…her eyes hollow…_

"Finn…" Finn looks around to see Rachel holding a bloody note. The nurse walks towards Finn to read it too.

"This is only the beginning." The note says.

Finn sees that the window is open, he figures that the killer probably climbed up to Shelly's ward. They're only on the third floor and it's not too high for an experienced murderer to jump from.

"Rachel, if they were only a couple of metres from us, what will they do the next time they strike? We need to leave Lima now."

Rachel nods and they run from the level.

Finn climbs into Rachel's car and checks and rechecks if the door is locked.

"Okay, so where are we going to go?" Rachel asks

"We'll go to Fort Wayne, it's the closest city compared to others."

"We are going to drive 60 miles?"

"We'll seek refuge there, I'm sure the men aren't going to luckily guess where we are."

"Finn, they've been following our every move." Rachel looks at Finn, "We can't put people we know in danger and we can't gamble with our lives."

"I know that, I'm just so-" Finn stops his sentence and bangs his head on the window. "It's all my fault, if I never went to save the girl back in Decemeber 2009…we wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"No, you have protective instincts. You did the right thing."

"They killed her anyway."

"Yes they did."

"And that's a good thing because-"

"…You gave her _hope_ Finn, you gave her hope."

"Hope?"

"It's stronger than fear."

Finn runs a hand through his hair: making it stand up and become more dishevelled than it already is. He gave the girl hope. He remembers how her eyes lit up when she thought that Finn was going to save her, he also remembers how thankful she was when she knew that Finn had done everything he could.

Rachel pulls in to the driveway and sits in the car.

"Alright, we'll pack a bag and get the fuck out. Stay with me all the time okay, we don't know what or who is in the house right now."

"Okay."

Finn unbuckles his seatbelt and holds hands with Rachel, he opens the door slowly and turn on the light.

Finn unhooks a bag from the hanger and start packing essentials.

"Uh, first aid, water, food, torch, map, knife, jacket." Finn runs around the house with Rachel looking for survival tools.

"I think that's everything." Finn says and wipes the sweat off his face with his arm.

Finn runs to the door and smacks into two people once he opens it, Finn falls back and clutches his throbbing nose.

"What are you doing in my house?"

One of the men punches Finn on his face, which makes him fall back again.

"DADDY!" Rachel runs over to Finn and helps him up. "Why didn't you tell me that you and dad were home?!"

"No, we've got questions for you." Hiram says

"Why is a known murderer in our house? My house will not be the refuge for Finn Hudson." Leroy continues.

"You don't understand-"

BANG

"FINN HUDSON WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Finn and Rachel stop talking and see five men walking towards their house.

"We need to get out of here!"

PUNCH

Finn falls and tastes blood coming from his lips, Leroy's ring cut his bottom lip.

"Dad, whatever happens you have to trust Finn. Those people are the ones that killed the girl not Finn and they are coming to kill _us_." Rachel explains quickly.

Hiram turns around.

"Go, Leroy will take you outside whilst I buy you some time from these men."

"What? You need to come with us." Finn begs

"Did you hear what I said? GO!"

Finn grabs the packed bag and stares at Hiram. He can't believe that he's going to sacrifice himself.

Leroy holds Finn by his collar and Rachel by her hand and drags them out of the house by the back door. Leroy hands Finn the keys but grips onto Finn's arm to stop him.

"Listen here Finn, you protect our girl and keep her safe, other wise I _will_ find you and cut your junk off…or worse. Do I make myself clear?

Finn gulps nervously and nods at Leroy.

"I'll protect her with my life, Mr Berry."

"Okay, go now. If I can find you, I'll find you: I swear. But you keep outrunning those men sweetheart." Leroy cups Rachel's face and kisses her on the tip of her nose.

This is goodbye-

A goodbye that Rachel isn't looking for.

Rachel starts to cry and she hugs and kisses Leroy. Finn climbs into Mr Berry's car and reverses out of the back driveway.

Leroy takes off, looking back once as he races back to Hiram

Rachel whips around when a few gunshot echoes that came from the direction of the house… all this chaos for Finn and her to get away.

"It'll be okay, it'll be okay." Finn repeats to tries to get Rachel to calm down.

"I love my dads so much." Rachel sobs and looks behind her again.

Suddenly, a large black van turns from a corner and follows Finn and Rachel's car.

Finn looks at the back through the rear mirror and sees men holding guns out of windows and pointing it at them.

"Fuck!"

"What's wrong?"

"Rachel, get down low. Whatever you do, don't get up!" Rachel slumps down: her head hidden in front of the seat.

Finn turns a sharp right and Rachel grips onto the sides of the car, bullets hit against the car and breaks through the glass.

"Hang on Rachel!" Finn swerves and turns right on the first street he sees. The black van follows and the chase is on. Finn cuts a corner and his car races along a footpath, demolishing signs and food from carts and stalls.

He can see Rachel trying very hard to not fall off.

The Black van speeds into a street and cuts in front of them.

"Damn it." Finn turns the steering wheel 'full left' and drives the car around from the black van.

He sees a bridge and races towards it, the bridge tilts up and Finn accelerates.

Suddenly, two gunshots puncture the wheels of Finn's car.

"What happened?"

"They fucking deflated the tires!" Finn unbuckles his seatbelt and Rachel's. The car starts to move backwards.

"GET OUT NOW!" Finn shouts and opens the door, Rachel and him jump out and Mr Berry's car crashes into a tree.

Finn sees the five men on their tail and he looks around. He sees a small cliff with a deep river below it.

"Come on Rachel." He says and grabs Rachel's hand towards the cliff.

"What are you doing?"

"We have to jump!" Finn steps over the railings and looks at Rachel, then the men then back at Rachel.

"Are you crazy? You don't know how deep it is."

"Do you trust me?"

"What?-"

"Rachel, do you trust me when I say that we will survive?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust me when I say: that I will keep you safe, whatever the situation?"

"Yes Finn."

"We have to jump Rachel." Finn breathes

Rachel takes a deep breath and holds Finn's hand.

"Okay, one, two, THREE!"

Rachel and Finn leaps.

Rachel clings onto Finn's torso and digs her head in his neck. They plunge in the icy cold water.

Rachel lets go of Finn and looks around the river. Bubbles and small fish surround her, being underwater is actually quite peaceful. No worries, no pain, just water. Rachel looks up and sees a blurry image of the men looking over the cliff and returning back to their cars.

Rachel's lungs burn with exhaustion and she swims up to the surface. She takes a deep breath and gives her lungs a full hit of oxygen.

"Finn, we did it. We survived the jump!" Rachel looks around.

Rachel realises that she's the only one with her head above the water.


	10. A weapon is only good if you wield it

The Hands of a Murderer

"FINN!" Rachel turns around violently, her teeth chatters because of the extremely cold, icy water.

"FINN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Rachel cries and wipes her face with her hand, Finn told her to trust him. He said that they would survive…together.

Suddenly, Rachel sees millions of bubbles floating to the surface behind her.

She swims towards the bubbles and dives under, Rachel sees Finn struggling underwater to free himself. Why didn't she help him sooner? Rachel feels around Finn to figure out which part of his body is stuck: it's his foot. Finn's foot is wedged between two rocks.

Rachel pulls it and Finn stops her because of the pain, when her lungs feel like bursting: Rachel swims to the surface to take a quick breath before diving back down again.

She finds the rocks and tries to lift them up; she can feel Finn becoming exhausted and losing consciousness.

"Stay with me baby, come on. You'll get to breathe soon." Rachel says underwater, she doesn't know if Finn can understand but she can feel his hands grasping onto hers because of his painful burning lungs.

Rachel swims to the surface and finds a large branch; she wedges the stick between the two rocks next to Finn's foot and presses it down. Rachel places her hand under the rock and lift.

The rocks shifts: Rachel pulls Finn out and grasps his waist to take him to the surface. She lays Finn on the ground and pumps his chest after unclipping his bag from his back. Rachel can see Finn's lips turning blue and his face going pale from the lack of oxygen.

"Come on Finn! Wake up!" Rachel pumps Finn's broad chest and transfers her oxygen into his lungs through Finn's mouth.

Finn turns to the side and gags water, saliva and vomit. He sits up and takes a lot of breaths at once before receiving a huge hug from Rachel.

"I thought I was going to lose you!" Rachel cries and Finn embraces her tiny frame with his arms.

"I'm so sorry." Finn rests his dizzy head on the crook of Rachel's neck. "I'm so sorry."

Rachel fishes in their pack and comes across a first aid kit, she finds a bandage and liquid antiseptic. Rachel examines Finn's foot, the rock had pierced his skin and scraped the flesh causing it to bleed.

"Are you ready? It's going to sting." Rachel runs her hand through Finn's wet hair.

"Okay, go." Finn groans and shuts her eyes. Rachel pours the antiseptic medicine on Finn's foot and he gives out the loudest yowl. He winces and burrows his face into Rachel's arm.

She wraps his foot with a bandage and kisses his wet cheek.

"We have to go into that woodland, we are exposed to the men out here. Put your arm around my shoulder." Rachel lifts Finn and they hobble together into the thick woods.

Rachel shivers and wraps her clothes around her body.

"Are you alright?" Finn asks and hugs Rachel close to his body.

"It's so cold."

Rachel snuggles with Finn and draws circles on his chest-

BOOM-

They look up and see lots of smoke rising to the red sky, Rachel pushes away from Finn and walks slowly over to the edge of the river. Finn stands up and sees Rachel fall to her knees.

"Rachel!"

She starts to cry.

"What happened?"

"They burnt my house."

Finn squints and sees Rachel's house in the far distance up in flames.

"My dads!"

Finn sits next to Rachel and crosses his legs.

"Everything will be fine."

"That's what you said a couple of days ago…look where we are now."

"Okay, what about this…what are you going to do when we survive?"

"What?"

"I'm serious, what are you going to do when we survive?"

"…I'm going to hug my dads and buy them a house when I'm famous."

Finn chuckles.

"What about you, what are you looking forward to see once we get out of here?"

"I'm looking forward to the day when my mom loves me again and spending my life with you."

Rachel smiles and wipes away a stray tear but it's no use because it starts to rain.

"Are you hungry?" Finn asks

"A bit."

Finn swings his pack on front of him and hands Rachel a packet of fruit.

"How much food and water do we have?"

"Not a lot, but if we ration it: we'll be fine." Finn replies and Rachel crinkles the packet that she just finished.

"We got some cheese, crackers and jerky, but we are going to start finding some food on the way to Fort Wayne."

"We are going to walk there by foot?"

"Unless you want to steal a car…I guess so."

"What's there at Fort Wayne?"

"My cousins, they'll give us shelter from the men."

"…Or just kick us out."

"When did you turn into Miss Pessimistic?"

"When did _you _turn into Mr Look-on-the-bright-side?"

Finn and Rachel laugh for the first time since forever.

Suddenly, Finn hears footsteps coming from the path in front of them.

They stop laughing.

…

The soft footsteps turn into loud footsteps on the path, it's distant but approaching fast.

"Someone from the gang?"

"We need to run."

Finn and Rachel repacks their bags in a hurry and runs in the opposite direction. They run onto a narrow path and become stuck between a river and a fallen tree.

Rachel jumps over the tree and Finn follows, they lie perfectly quiet behind it.

"FINN BLOODY HUDSON!" Screams a man.

Rachel tries to crouch lower below the tree but it's no use because the man is looking and walking directly at her.

"I see you." He sings and Finn's heart skips a beat.

The man reaches behind a tree and pulls Rachel and Finn out of their hiding place.

"Well, I finally caught you! All by myself!" The man yells and Finn can hear the eerie satisfaction in his voice.

Rachel's eyes meet Finn's: she mouths at him.

"What do we do?"

Finn never stops looking at the cold gun in the man's hands, the man follows Finn's direction and laughs.

"Yeah, I've had this baby since I was seventeen. Killed my dad for it." The man examines his gun and points it at Finn.

"What do you want from us?"

"My gang and I have been following you since the day that you got released. You told people that we were the ones that killed the girl, did you not?"

"No." Finn replies and tries to hide the quiver in his voice.

"Don't lie to me!" The man places his hand on the trigger. "The football coach found out, you tried to tell that Mowhawk kid and the chick next to you knows the truth."

Finn looks at Rachel and he knows what she's thinking, he bumps her arm and brings her attention to the fork path behind them.

"Oh, please run Finn. Just give me more reasons to maim you."

Finn reaches slowly behind him and releases the knife from his pack. He grabs the knife and squeezes Rachel's hand.

It's now or never-

"RUN!"

They jump behind the tree and a gun blast explodes over their heads, showering them with wood and splinters. But they get away.

"You Motherfucker!" The man holds his gun out and runs after Finn and Rachel.

The rain beats onto Finn's skin and he decides to take the left road of the fork path, the road starts to get smaller and smaller.

Branches snap and puddles with mud: splash onto their faces but they keep running.

Finn knows they aren't going to get away from the man, he's much faster and bigger than they are.

Finn can hear loud pants and breathing coming from Rachel, the rain keeps splashing down on them and they come across a river in front of them.

"WHAT DO WE DO NOW?" Rachel asks and stares at the river. They need to cross it in front of the man. Finn hears the footsteps getting closer and he pushes Rachel in front of him.

"Cross it now." Finn hurries and Rachel jumps in the river. Suddenly, Finn feels something grab his legs and he falls right off his feet.

"AARGH!" Finn yells and he hits his face in the puddle of mud next to him. Rachel stops and turns around to see the man holding Finn's legs together. Her boyfriend manages to kick the gun out of his hands towards Rachel, Rachel finds a large rock and she smashes it to pieces.

Finn looks at Rachel with the knife in his hands and gives her the saddest face ever. Because he's caught….he's caught…he's caught.

"RUN RACHEL!" Finn shouts, he sees something change from Rachel's face and she disappears in the woods.

The man stands over Finn and ties a rope around his feet and laughs.

"My gang will be so happy to see you, there was so much hard work in tracking you down but you're here in front of me, in the real honest-to-god flesh."

Finn looks at the knife he's holding his hands, he grips it so tightly that his knuckles start to turn white.

"That knife makes me so scared. Drop it." The man says sarcastically through gritted teeth.

"Fuck you." Finn spits and receives an agonising kick to the groin. He rolls onto his stomach in pain and throws the knife away. Finn groans and winces.

"Your girlfriend didn't show you no loyalty, just left you here to die."

"Shut up." Finn coughs: still on his belly in the muck.

"Friends and family abandoning you, you're travelling with a woman and I'm guessing you'll never figure out what to do with one."

"You fucking talk about her one more time…"

"Is that a threat? Coming from you?"

Finn's still on his belly but he can finally bend his legs. Finn puts his hands slowly on the ground and pushes into the mud a little bit.

"After I give you to my gang, I'll find your little whore and ruin her life."

This is when Finn jumps.

Finn pushes himself with his hands and tackles the man, the top of his head hits the man's nose with a loud crunch and he falls backwards.

Finn sees the shimmer of the metal knife and crawls towards it with his hands. He grabs it and starts to saw the rope back and forth.

Back and forth-

The man holds his broken nose.

Back and forth-

The man looks at Finn-

Back and forth-

The man stands up and gives Finn murderous eyes.

Back and forth-

The man runs towards him.

"COME ON, BREAK!" Finn grits his teeth and quickens his cutting on the rope, just as the man reaches him: Finn pushes the rope off his legs and kicks the man into the river.

The man runs back and Finn holds the knife in front of him.

"Stop going after me and my girl." Finn squints through the pouring rain.

"_Your _girl? When I'm done with her: she'll be _my _girl."

Finn pushes the blade inside the knife and pins the man onto the ground.

"I'll kill you!"

"Sure you will kid." The man laughs. He fucking _laughs!_

"I WILL."

"You want to know how your girl's dads screamed when I shot them in the head?"

Finn clenches the knife to strike the man with.

He's going to kill him-

He's fucking going to-

And-

And-

Finn swings the knife above him-  
He brings it down-

Finn hesitates when the tip touches the man's chest-

He stops-

The man sees the chance and punches Finn in the stomach and pins _him _down.

"Let me teach you a thing or two about killing!"

…

This is the end. It's over. Finn lies on his back trying to catch his breath.

The man runs a finger up the blade and places it on Finn's neck.

"I can make your death a quick one…but because you misbehaved I'll torture you with agonising pain."

He swings the knife above Finn's heart. Finn closes his eyes.

'I'm sorry Rachel. I'm sorry Rachel. I'm sorry Rachel." Finn thinks and lets the acceptance of death wash over him.

Suddenly, Finn hears a loud crunching sound above him and he snaps his eyes open. The man falls off him and face plants in the river, standing above Finn is Rachel with a large branch.

"You didn't think I'd leave you, did you?" Rachel asks and pulls Finn up.

"You've been saving my life a lot recently."

"I know I've been." Rachel smiles and strokes Finn's face.

Finn takes a deep breath and holds his violently shaking hands.

He just narrowly missed death-

He narrowly missed not seeing Rachel ever again-

He narrowly missed the end of everything-

Finn looks at the man in the water with his face below the surface. The man will probably die soon with the amount of water in his lungs, but Finn isn't going to stay around and check.

"Let's go." Rachel says and they run away from the man towards the path.


	11. The Killing

The Hands of a Murderer

The road gets rougher and rougher, Finn and Rachel don't even know if they're on a path.

"Finn-" Rachel says but Finn stops her.

"I wanna keep moving, we don't know if the men are close to us. But let's just keep going until we can't."

Rachel hesitates and finally says "Okay."

The rain starts to get heavier, the pattering of the water on leaves and the squelching of mud underneath their feet causes a loud racket in the woodlands.

"We should probably get back on the road, you know: away from the woodlands." Rachel suggests and Finn looks around and agrees. They finally find a sign that points them towards an old neighbourhood.

"We could probably ask for directions to Fort Wayne."

"Maybe we should just walk there on our ow-" Rachel stops talking and crouches down behind a bush.

"What's happening?" Finn asks and Rachel brings his attention to a homeless man scraping a can of bean sin front of them.

"Is it one of the men?" Rachel asks and Finn examines the homeless man's clothes.

"No, I don't think so."

Finn grabs his knife and waits.

Suddenly, four of the five men step out onto the clearing and walk towards the homeless man.

"Fuck." Finn swears and holds onto his knife, he holds his breath and looks around him to not make any sound. He pulls Rachel closer to him and they both stare at the situation in front of them.

"Who are you?" The homeless man says and shows his yellow, decaying teeth.

"We are looking for two people."

"Who?"

"A boy by the name of Finn Hudson and his whore."

Finn clenches his fist.

"I'm sorry I haven't seen them." The homeless man returns to eating his food. The men knock the can out of his hands and walk closer to him.

"Finn, what's going to happen?" Rachel whispers and closes her eyes.

The homeless man pulls himself slowly upright and steps behind his bags.

"I don't know what you want from me."

Finn can sense and see pure fear coming from the homeless man.

"We will ask you again. Have you seen a boy and a girl pass through here?"

"No I haven't."

"Okay, thanks for your help." One of the men smiles and turns around, Rachel can see the homeless man exhale with relief. But a second passes in a flash-

The men grabs a knife and punches it into the homeless man's chest, it crunches as it goes in and the men twists and turns the knife. Rachel lets out a squeal but Finn quickly covers her mouth and eyes.

"It's alright, just close your eyes." Finn shuts his eyes and turns his head towards Rachel. The night is filling up with terrible and horrifying screams and screeches from the homeless man, Finn can feel goose bumps and the hair on his arms stand up by the ear piercing sound.

But the man just wouldn't die.

The men laugh and twist the knife some more before a loud moan echoes through the atmosphere and he dies.

"Thanks for your help." The men spits snot on the homeless man and walk away to find Finn and Rachel.

Finn opens his tightly closed eyes and sees a figure lying next to a rock, he stands up with Rachel by his side towards the man. A pool of blood gushes from his chest and crawls onto the floor.

Dark red blood-

Black eyes-

_The girl lies lifeless on the ground…foam seeping out of her mouth…hollow eyes that suck you in-_

Finn gags and throws up-

He just keeps throwing up-

And when Finn calms down he throws up again-

Finn drops his head to the ground and grabs the dirt from the floor into his hands. He feels Rachel run over to rub circles on his back.

Finn starts to shake, he lifts his gaze and sees an ocean of blood next to him.

He's ruined everything, because of him: this innocent homeless man that was eating food five minutes ago had to die a painful and slow death. Because of him…

"It's my fault." Finn says to the ground.

"No Finn-"

"It's my fault that he died, if I had just stepped out when the men were looking for me. Then this person wouldn't have died." Finn points to the homeless man and runs a sweaty hand through his wet hair.

"Hey, listen. It's not your fault, the men who are tyring to chase us are psychotic and it's their choice on who to kill. You never told them to kill this man."

"Rachel-"

"Shut up Finn."

Finn's taken aback by Rachel's tone.

"Do you trust me?" Rachel asks

"Of course."

"Then trust me when I say this: You are a good man Finn, who's had bad things happen to. You are innocent and we are going to survive this together. None of this is your fault." Rachel emphasises every word and cups Finn's face.

Finn finally nods and Rachel stands up and walks towards the bush.

"Where are you going?" Finn asks.

"I'm getting flowers, this homeless man deserves a proper burial."

Rachel finds thousands of flowers and places them around the homeless man: creating a bed of daises underneath him.

"Hurry, let's run away from here." Rachel says, Finn looks at her but as he looks away. Finn sees movement behind his girlfriend. The bushes part behind where she's standing and Rachel's face changes.

Rachel whips around to see the four men behind her, they grab Rachel by her neck and smashes a cloth in her face. In a couple of seconds, Rachel drops to the floor in deep sleep and the men looks up at Finn.

Finn looks at his knife in front of him but it's closer to the men than him. He's trapped, the only way he can escape is to run back but that means that he would have to leave Rachel…and he would never do that.

Finn runs towards the men and one of the men swings his gun and hits Finn's head with the butt.

CRACK

Finn falls and his head is spinning, he can see colours of grey and yellow flashing before him but he can't open his eyes any longer. Through slitted eyes, Finn can see one of the men pick up his knife and walk towards him.

Finn tries to crawl away, but his drowsiness and weight pins him on the same spot and all he can do is stare as the man stands over him.

"This is for killing Mack." He says and raises the knife over Finn; the last thing he sees is the man bringing down the knife with full force towards his back.

…

SPINNING…Grey…Yellow…flashing lights…the knife…the river…Hiram…Leroy…jump…the cliff…SPINNING…homeless man…sorry…I'm so sorry…TURN AROUND….RUN….save my life…Berry…the men….the girl….DECEMBER 2009…Rachel….Rachel…SPINNING…killer…RACHEL-

"RACHEL!" Finn screams but there's water in his lungs and pain in his- in his. Finn remembers seeing the men step over the bush towards Rachel, they drugged her and then came over to him…he was stabbed…on the...somewhere.

Finn tries to raise his head and a blinding ache stretches from his head towards his jaw and he gently places his head back on the ground. Finn stifles another cough and realises there's a knife in his back.

Finn slowly uncurls one arm from underneath him, his head and back hurts so much he has to stop every two seconds to catch his breath. Finn screams in pain and reaches his hand towards his back, crawling up his disgusting, wet, stink shirt.

He feels the handle of the knife above his pack. The knife had gone through the pack before piercing Finn. Finn grits his teeth and yanks the knife out of his back, he screams when a fire spreads through his back. Finn stops and groans before throwing the knife away from him.

His blood sparkles in the moonlight, his sticky blood painted over the handle…

Finn closes his eyes and slowly places his hands underneath his chest before pushing himself up from the ground.

He sits in the dirt and wipes the tears from his eye. The man could've killed him, he could've pushed the knife through his head or neck…but instead he wanted Finn to suffer by stabbing him on his back.

The men took Rachel away and Finn turns his head slowly to figure out where she stood before all this. Finn lets out a moan. That's why the men still left Finn alive, the only way to _really_ hurt him is to take Rachel. They knew what they were doing.

That's how they win-

They take the one thing in his life that he really cares for-

Finn lifts up his shirt over his head and yells at the blinding pain, he unzips his pack and takes out a new tshirt that he packed. He twists his body and looks at the mean stab wound on his back, he opens the antiseptic from the first aid and pours it on his back.

Finn breathes in air through his teeth and wears his new shirt. He sees that the pack is wet, Finn fishes inside the bag and sees that the knife had gone through his water bottle before stabbing him.

He has no water left-

Finn coughs at his dry throat and slowly stands up.

"RACHEL?!" Finn yells hoarsely, he walks around the clearing and stops when he sees her shoe hidden underneath a tree. Finn lifts his head up and sees a treaded footpath.

"Hang in there, I'm coming."


	12. A couple's hospitality

The Hands of a Murderer

Finn looks up and sees the sun in the sky, he doesn't know much time has passed since the men took Rachel. Finn's wobbly when he first stands on his feet but he manages to take a step, then another.

He uses nearby rocks and trees as support as he follows the footpath. Finn winces every time his body moves: he has water in his lungs and it feels like he is carrying a pile of rocks on his chest. He can feel a fever setting in but he needs to find Rachel…nothing is going to stop him from finding her.

Finn rubs his neck and throws the heavy pack on the floor, he unzips it and takes out the essentials: an empty water bottle to fill, cheese and crackers, map, his phone and first aid. Finn stuffs the items in his pockets and turns around.

The knife. Shimmering on the floor. Finn knows he must find the men even though he really doesn't want to. Even if he _does_ find them he might need to change his place for Rachel.

And for that he can't go unarmed, could he?

Finn reluctantly picks up the knife and winces when he bends over. He doesn't want to touch it but there's no choice. Finn wipes the blood on wet moss and pierces it through his pants to hold it.

"Come on Finn, man up!" Finn shouts and walks towards the path. He can see the broken branches and treaded dirt on the floor, they must've walked this way.

Finn runs as fast as his injuries will let him, he just needs to get to Rachel. He finds a small creek nearby and fills his bottle with the water and on he goes.

Finn's sweating like crazy and he takes a big swig of his water. He ignores the pain in his back and wipes his head, the trail is still fresh so they must've passed here not long before he came. He doesn't dare sleep, the men might not be so he can't.

Finn finds a path that leads him out of the woodlands and onto a road, he sees a small corner shop in front of him. Maybe….just maybe- he can steal some supplies.

Finn turns around and realises that the woodlands is actually just a small national park. He walks towards the corner shop and sighs a relief when he sees that it's still open.

He just needs to get some food, water and bandages.

"Grab and go." Finn tells himself and steps into the shop, the bell rings and the customers stare at him. He knows that he looks mysterious: his wet, dishevelled hair, the blood on his t-shirt and face and a knife pierced through his pants.

"Excuse me, do you need help sir?" Finn turns around and sees the owner walking towards him.

"I'm fine thanks." Finn says hoarsely.

Finn walks over to the food section and takes out a cold water bottle. He sees that the other customers have already left, it's just him and the beefy shop owner.

Finn grabs a bagel and walks towards the exit.

"That will be five dollars." The owner cuts in front of Finn holding a broomstick

Finn stares at the door-  
Grab and go-

He shoves the owner out of the way before bounding out of the door and running parallel to the path that Rachel was on.

"HEY COME BACK HERE!" The shop owner yells and runs after Finn. Finn groans and runs painfully away from the owner. He knows the owner will catch up to him in a few seconds. Finn runs back into the national park and hides behind the trees.

He jumps over a fallen tree and crawls inside a log. He doesn't need these interruptions; he just needs to find his girlfriend.

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

Finn holds his breath and pulls himself closer. He looks through a small hole and sees the owner yell and kick a tree before running back to his shop. Finn breathes out a sigh of relief and crawls out. He sits on the tree and places his face in his hands.

'GET UP FINN, GET YOUR FUCKING SELF MOVING.' On he goes, Finn grabs onto plants to pull himself up, he holds onto rocks when he is walking down hill. Finn starts to cough and stumble before his legs collapse under him and he just needs to sit down.

He just has to.

"I'm sorry Rachel."

Finn's back is aching and his head feels like it's being ripped apart, he is sweating and stinking so much and he is so goddam hungry. Finn slides down at the base of the tree for a minute and tries to catch his breath.

'GET UP FINN HUDSON. YOU ARE A BLOODY COWARD. GET OFF YOUR FUCKING ASS AND GET GOING."

Finn knows that he's really sick and his mind drifts…_he is young and is in bed. Carole comes into his room carrying a tray of chicken soup, she runs her hand down his face and checks his temperature. His mother takes out a box and pops pills in his mouth-_

_Pills-_

_Medicine-_

Medicine!-

Finn opens his first aid kit and sees all types of pills in there. Too many to count. There are words written on the plastic but Finn's head is spinning and he can't read.

Finn takes one and brings it close to his eyes.

Pa-

Pan-

Pan Rev-

Pan Reviver-

Pain Reliever!-

Finn opens his cold bottle and downs the cold liquid and pill.

"YOU'VE TAKEN A PILL. NOW GET OFF YOUR FILTHY BUTT YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF CRAP." Finn thinks and grips onto a branch on top of him. He pulls himself up and wastes half of his energy doing so.

"Okay." Finn says and wipes his hands on his knees. "Which way?" He looks on the path and sees a small cloth in the bush. He walks towards it and picks up the cloth. It's part of Rachel's shirt…the shoe…the cloth…is she leaving clues for him?

Morning turns to midday and midday turns to another morning. Finn takes more pills and stumbles forward; he really needs a doctor or just someone to give him proper medication. What happens if Rachel is feeling worse than him?…She might not have a fever…but what if she's getting tortured?

Finn's feet slides under him and he falls down a hill, he bumps into bushes and his back catches on a rock which makes him yell in pain. Finn reaches out to catch something but he's too weak to hold onto a rock.

Finn then hits a bump and flies into the air before landing on his shoulders: pain spreading through them like hot fire. He finally comes to a stop, Finn just lies there.

"GET UP!"

"GIVE ME A FUCKING MINUTE!" Finn tells himself.

If he had any energy left he would be crying. He pushes his hand in his pockets and brings out a very squashed bagel. He rips half of it and stuffs it in his mouth.

Finn turns his head slowly and sees that he is next to a road.

Something rings-

RING. RING. RING-

It's his phone-

Finn picks it up and widens his eyes when he hears who its from.

"Rachel?" Finn coughs and listens closely.

"Finn, listen carefully. They've taken me to FW. They've taken me to FW. I've got to go, they're coming."

The phone call ends.

"RACHEL, RACHEL. ANSWER BACK PLEASE."

Finn wipes his groggy eyes.

FW- What the fuck is FW?

Unless-

They've taken Rachel to Fort Wayne.

That's 60 miles.

It's over. He can't stand anymore let alone walk sixty fucking miles to Fort Wayne.

"GET UP."

It's over.

"GET UP."

….Finn gives up.

"YOU PROMISED LEROY."

What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

"HE'LL CUT YOUR JUNK OFF."

Finn doesn't care…he deserves it anyway. He's been through unimaginable pain so he doesn't see how it will differ.

"YOU PROMISED RACHEL."

Finn opens his eyes…he promised Rachel. He fucking promised her.

He slowly lifts himself off the ground and squeezes his eyes shut at the blinding, flashing lights.

"Come on Finn, you can do this. Rachel is counting on you."

Finn stands up and steps over a small boulder. He walks on. Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne. Finn thinks about his destination over and over again, it needs to be the only thing on his mind right now.

'Don't think about pain or suffering just think about Rachel and Fort Wayne.' Finn says to himself.

Finn sees two lights coming his way, the bright dots turn into headlights and the headlights turns into a car.

"You need help?"

The man walks out of the car and puts a hand under Finn's armpit to help him up. But even with that Finn can barely stand. The man grips onto Finn's sweaty shirt and gently settles him in his car.

"Who is it Ben?" A woman asks and Finn squints his eyes to see an elderly, fat woman looking at him.

"He's a kid, it looks like he needs medical attention. Don't worry kid, we'll take you to a hospital."

"No!" Finn shouts. The couple looks at him. "I need to go to Fort Wayne."

"We need to go there too, but with your condition-"

"No, you don't understand. I _really_ need to go to Fort Wayne."

"What's there?"

"My girl, she's gone...I lost her."

"Ben, just turn the car."

"A'right, we're heading to Fort Wayne now."

"Thankyou!"

The woman pushes her car seat back and places a cool hand on Finn's burning forehead. She turns back to Ben. "He's got a bad fever."

"What happened to you kid?" Ben asks

"It's a very long story."

"Okay…when did all this start then?" Ben's wife asks

"December 2009."

Ben whistles: "That's _very_ long, well Lily and I are visiting our old folks there. It's gonna be real fun."

Lily pours cold water onto a towel and places it on Finn's head. He can feel the coolness of the liquid dribble down the side of his face, Finn closes his eyes and shifts his head to a cold area on the towel.

"Geez kid, you sure you don't want to go to the doctors. We can turn the car around right now."

"Positive." Finn coughs. His eyelids start to droop: probably the work of the medication that he took.

"Here." Lily leans back and pulls out a pillow and blanket underneath her seat, she places it on the end seat and pushes Finn down. Finn closes his eyes and rubs his head into the pillow, Lily takes off his jacket and covers him with a blanket.

"Take a rest kid." Lily says and pats Finn's head.

"My name's Finn."

"What?" Ben says

"My name- It's Finn."

"Good to hear kid." Lily smiles and returns back to her magazine.

Soon the drowsiness takes over Finn and he dozes off.

…

"Is he dead? Did he die?"

Finn wakes to the sound of a woman's voice close to his face.

"He's not dead, he is probably still sleeping." A man's voice replies. Finn then remembers where he is: Ben and Lily…Car seat…Fort Wayne…Rachel. Finn jolts up from his position and screams when he stretches his stab wound on his back.

Finn turns around and sees a small pool of blood coming from his back and onto the seat.

"You're bleeding." Lily says and turns around.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm making a mess." Finn says and puts pressure on his wound with his hand.

"No, don't worry about it." Lily waves her hand and pulls out a bandage, she gestures Finn to turn around so she can examine the wound.

"I use to be a vet, so I know a bit about wounds." Lily says and lifts up Finn's bloody tshirt.

She sucks air through her teeth.

"Hmm, that's looking real nasty." She fishes through her first aid kit and pours antiseptic onto a cotton pad. She dabs it on Finns wound and sticks large steri strips to hold his wound close.

"How did this happen?" Lily asks.

"I scraped it on a rock." Finn lies, no one can know about the men.

"Really? Because I'm not sure that a rock can do this kind of damage."

"Yeah, it was jagged."

Finn's stomach rumbles and he pulls out the other half of his bagel. He can see mulch, leaves and dirt on it. Great, his only source of food he has has dirt crawling all over it. Finn pulls out his cheese and crackers from his other pocket and sees mould growing on it.

"I'm really sorry to ask this but…are you homeless?" Ben asks and Lily slaps his arm.

"You don't ask people these questions.'

"It's alright." Finn says quickly before the nice couple start fighting. "I don't know, I think I am."

His stomach rumbles again.

"You hungry Finn?"

"Um, yeah?"

"We are stopping soon for breakfast, you can come with us. Our shout."

Finn nods his head and rubs the bloodstain off his blanket.

Ben finally pulls in at a café and parks his car.

"Let's go, I can almost smell breakfast."

Ben helps Finn out of the car and walks with him and Lily towards the restaurant.

"We'll order some food, you just get cleaned up." Ben says and points at the dried blood and dirt on Finn's face. He walks into the bathroom and runs the cold water.

Finn pulls down a couple of tissues and rinse them with the water; he wipes the cuts on his arms with it before wiping his face.

In a couple of minutes, the colour of the tissue turns into a disgusting brown colour and Finn disposes it.

He looks at himself in the mirror; he looks somewhat 'ordinary' now. Finn cups water inside his hands and splashes his face with it, for some reason he washes his hair too.

Blood, leaves and dirt slide into the sink and Finn wipes his hair with a cloth towel. Finn opens the door and makes his way towards Lily and Ben who makes a seat for him and pushes his breakfast towards him.

Finn really, really wants to eat. But he doesn't know if Rachel is able to. Finn holds onto his breakfast and opens it. Hot pancakes drowning in butter and maple syrup, Finn furrows his brows at the smell-

No-

Rachel might be starving-

It's not right to eat when Rachel isn't.

"You can eat Finn."

"I'm not hungry." Finn replies even though he is extremely hungry and might pass out in a couple of seconds

"I thought you said that you were."

Finn doesn't reply.

"How long will it take for us to reach Fort Wayne?" He asks

"Hmm maybe an hour." Ben replies and drinks his coffee.

An hour. An hour until he can reach Rachel.

Finn grips onto his breakfast box and follows ben and Lily out of the restaurant; he will give this breakfast to Rachel when he meets her. She's probably starving.

Finn puts the box on the floor and lies down in the back seat.

"Where exactly are you going once you get to Fort Wayne?" Ben asks and turns left.

"Uh, I don't know." Finn replies and wipes his hand through his tired face.

"So where will we be dropping you?"

He doesn't reply but he just stares at Ben and shrugs his shoulders.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Finn jumps up and grabs his phone.

FW- CEMENT HOUSE. ~R

"Mr Ben?"

"Yep?"

"To answer your question before…about where I'm going. I have an answer."

"Great, where are dropping you off?"

"Cement House in Fort Wayne."

Ben and Lily stop talking and drop their smiles immediately.

"What are you doing travelling over to the W-W-Whites Mansion?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's haunted kid."


	13. The Sacrifice

The Hands of a Murderer

He knows he's getting weaker and weaker, and he _knows_ that his fever could become worse without any medical attention but Rachel comes first. Finn turns on his side and listens to Ben and Lily's conversation.

"Ben, we're already a couple of hours behind schedule. My parents are strict people and they don't like to be kept waiting."

"But what about Finn, we can't just leave him on the side of the road."

"How would we explain to them that the reason we were late was because we picked up a homeless hitchhiker?"

Finn looks out of the window, the view is nothing but trees and woods. He stares at the breakfast box, it's like the food is screaming his name to eat it: he really wants to but he can't. He can feel that he is becoming a huge burden for the couple and they've shown him so much care. Finn then says something he really regrets.

"You can drop me off here."

"What?" Ben says and slows down the car. "Here? There's still a long way to go."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine." Finn says and pulls himself up.

Ben looks at Lily and they unlock the door.

"Are you sur-"

"Positive."

Finn takes the breakfast box and opens the car door.

"I'm sorry if you heard our conversation, we didn't mean it."

"It's fine.

Finn climbs out of the car and Lily follows. She unlocks the boot and takes an armful of fruit and puts them in a bag.

"Thanks." Finn says and accepts the bag

Finn closes the door and Ben rolls down the windows.

"I hope you find your girl." He says and shakes hands with Finn.

"I hope so too."

Ben nods and leans against the car seat before turning in the opposite direction and disappearing around a corner. Finn gently swings the small bag on his shoulder and walks the rest of the way.

Finn takes out the map and it takes a horrible little while to figure out where to go. He looks at signs and tries to find them on the map; it's a good thing that Rachel helped him with his mapping skills for geography.

Night's fully fallen and Finn is sweating like a madman, he peels an orange and drinks the juice dripping down his hand. He's still coughing enough to win a contest and his feet are filled with blisters and his head hurts so much.

It's haunted. It's haunted. It's haunted. Finn tries to erase that thought from his mind. There are no such things as ghosts or paranormal activities, he doesn't need to worry. Rachel is probably in a room and all he needs to do is break in and grab her and go.

Finn pulls out his knife from his pants and holds it in his hands. He stops and hangs onto a streetlight. Everything's shaking and turning all over the place, he shuts his eyes but there's just a blur of flickering lights and colour underneath his eyelids.

He falls onto the road and rolls onto his stomach. His phone rings and Finn's hand crawls down the side of his body to get it.

"Finn, are you there?" Rachel whispers.

Finn coughs and says yes hoarsely.

"The men are out for a couple of hours, are you okay?"

"Sorta." Finn shuts his feverish eyes and coughs some more.

"I'm on the third storey of the house, it's really dark and I can hear someone walking around the house even though there's no one here."

"It's apparently haunted." Finn remembers what Ben told him- Or was it Lily. He can't remember.

"Finn, listen to me. They've booby trapped the house, don't walk into the foyer. There's a tree nearby: use that to climb onto the roof. Don't walk up the stairs when you walk up to my room and don't touch the door to where I am."

Finn repeats Rachel's instructions over and over.

"Don't walk in the foyer. Use tree. Don't use stairs. Don't touch Rachel's door."

"Finn, I love you."

That's the last thing he hears before he blacks out.

…

His head is so fucking heavy…his eyelids just stay shut…there's something wet on his face.

Finn opens his eyes and sees a pink tongue lolling on the side of his cheek. His vision becomes a bit clearer and he sees a stray dog sitting next to him.

That's what he needs: a dog to take away his food and water. Finn rolls his head on the road and sees his phone with five missed calls. He must've blacked out whilst talking to Rachel.

Finn grips onto the sign and heaves himself up, he takes out his map and continues walking towards the Cement House. Finn can hear the clicking noises of the dog's nails against the road; it can't be following him could it? He turns his head and sees the stray dog running after him and walking by his side.

Finn _could_ use some company. He rubs between the dog's ears and wipes his tired eyes. He realises that he has missed a couple of weeks of school and community service with Roz Washington, he knows that the police might be searching the whole of Lima for him-

Oh Fuck-

They_ are_ going to search the entire town for him-

Finn thinks about it, Rachel offers a rumoured murderer a house to stay and suddenly the police find Rachel's dads dead on the floor with bullet wounds on their body and Rachel and Finn missing. Everyone is going to think that Finn killed the entire Berry family.

BARK-

Finn gets brought back to reality and he looks at the stray dog. He can't really tell what type of dog it is: a Border collie? A German Shepherd? A Belgian Malinois?

Finn then gets an idea. Maybe the dog can pick up Rachel's scent-

Finn finds the fruit packet that Rachel was eating from in his pockets and he puts it near the dog's nose. After a little while of sniffing and licking, the dog runs ahead.

Finn quickly checks his map and sees that they are running in the right direction, Finn stuffs Lily's fruit in his pockets and drops the bag to travel light before running painfully after the dog.

The stray dog barks and keeps on running, Finn's really out of breath. Running in his condition isn't exactly a fantastic idea, it feels like he has a tonne of bricks strapped to his chest and back and weights anchored on his feet: but he still runs.

He can see the sun start to rise, Finn realises that he has been running for quite a while. The dog stops and sniffs the air, after they return back to Lima: Finn is so going to adopt this stray.

He looks at the dog's stump of a tail and missing hair patches. It's almost like the dog is an animal version of him: an outcast.

It's kinda good for Finn to put his mind off the pain and think about happier things: like what to name the dog.

"Wait, STOP!" Finn yells and bends over for a coughing fit, the dog turns around and pants his tongue. It runs over to Finn and lies down.

"I need to rest for a sec." Finn tells the dog and sits down on the road, he gives his pancakes to the dog and rests his head on a tree.

The dog licks the box and looks at Finn with his tail wagging. The dog really needs a name; it's Finns now anyway. Finn reaches and pats the dog's back and scratches its chest.

"Max?" The dog whines

"What about Bruce?" The dog ducks his head

"…Quarterback?" The dog sits up and barks excitedly. "Quarterback, that's your name." Finn repeats and stands up.

"Show me the way Quarterback."

Quarterback runs and Finn follows.

"Good boy."

The finally reach civilisation, Quarterback slows down and Finn walks through a path. The locals of Fort Wayne stare at Finn, but they mostly look at the sharp knife on his pants.

Quarterback barks and Finn slowly walks on the path.

Suddenly, a man grabs Finn's arm and he whips around.

"Wait, aren't you Finn Hudson?"

Finn widens his eyes and runs but the man's grip is too strong and he hits Finn's neck with a stick.

Finn falls to the ground and crawls backwards from the man.

"You're a murderer, you need to go jail!" The man swings the stick to whack Finn-

Finn shuts his eyes-

He waits for the pain-

AARGH!-

Finn opens his eyes to see Quarterback nipping on the man's leg. Good bloody dog.

"Quarterback come on." Finn yells and runs towards the Cement House. He rubs his aching neck and swings his arms to give him more speed. He sees the house in the distance and thinks about what Rachel told him.

"COME ON FINN THINK…UH…DON'T WALK IN THE FOYER. USE TREE." Finn yells and runs behind the white house.

"Stay here boy." Finn tells Quarterback and he climbs a tree. His fever makes his vision blurry and he almost slips from the branch. Finn jumps onto the roof and finds a window, he kicks it and swings himself in.

"Rachel?" Finn whispers and pulls out his knife. He picks up his dirty phone and dials Rachel's number: he can't see a thing. The house is so dark probably because of the cement on the walls.

The phone rings for a while until Rachel picks up.

"Finn, where are you."

"I- I'm in the house." Finn loses his footing and he collides with the wall, he can't see a fucking thing. "I don't think they've heard me yet."

"Yes we have." Finn drops his phone and comes face to face with the four men. "Nice of you to join us Finn."

Finn squints his eyes, his head is aching so much and his entire body wreaks with pain. Suddenly, he falls back when a fist collides with his stomach. Finn just lies on the ground and lets the men drag him into a room.

Finn rolls around and sees a body on the floor next to him-

RACHEL!-

Finn screams as he heaves himself off the ground, Rachel wakes and touches Finn.

"Is that you?" She asks and Finn nods. She leaps and wraps her arms around his feverish body.

"We'll get o-o-out of here Rachel." Finn shuts his eyes to stop the spinning and they both stand up. "

"The only way out is the way you came from."

"Oh, you guys aren't going anywhere."

Rachel and Finn lift their gaze to see four men standing in front of them.

"You like your fever Finn? Well that's our gift to you."

"Finn, we don't like you. You know why?" The second man punches Finn and he drops on the floor: too weak to move.

"Back in December 2009, you interrupted something and we framed you for it." Finn can see Rachel fiddle in her pockets.

"You went to jail and when you came out you wanted to tell everyone that you were innocent and it was our fault. Then, a couple of weeks ago you killed Mack."

Finn grips his knife that they haven't realised he's got and quickly stabs one of the men on the leg. He drops on the floor and Finn pulls Rachel towards the door.

The three other men run after Finn and Rachel.

"How do we get out?" Finn shouts and looks around.

"Look!" Rachel points to a window and they sprint towards it.

"YOU'RE A FUCKER FINN HUDSON!"

"Come on, grab onto my shoulders." Finn lifts Rachel up on the window and watches her slide down a tree. Finn can see the men running closer to them.

"FINN HURRY!" Rachel shouts as she lands on the ground.

Finn climbs through the window, his shirt lifts up and the steri strips on his back catches against the hinge of the window.

"OH FUCK!" Finn shouts in pain and rips them off. Suddenly, the men plunges their knife on Finn's leg and holds it there.

Finn breathes in a gust of air, he feels tears running down his face from the pain.

"LET ME GO!"

…

Rachel lands on the ground and looks up, she sees Finn climb out of the window but stays there. She can hear him scream and the men's loud foot steps running towards him.

"COME ON FINN!"

…

"COME ON FINN!" Finn can hear Rachel yell and he kicks the men in the face before jumping out of the window towards the tree. Finn leaps out of the tree and yanks the knife out of his leg.

He gives it to Rachel as a weapon and she holds onto it tightly. Finn and Rachel can see the three men jump out of the window too: They need to run now.

Rachel starts to run but stops when she sees Finn searching for something.

"Quarterback." He whistles and slaps his thighs. "Come on buddy, time to go."

"Finn, what are you doing? We need to go!"

"Wait, give me a second." Finn yells nearly in tears. He can't go home without Quarterback.

Suddenly, a car beeps and Rachel sees a couple driving towards them.

"FINN!"

Finn turns around to see Ben standing from his car and waving at them to hurry up. This is when Quarterback comes flying out of the bushes towards Finn.

"Come here boy." Finn says and sprints with Rachel towards Ben and Lily's car. Finn, Rachel and Quarterback run for it and they jump into the car. They are Five-

Four-

Three steps away from the men.

The men comes pounding towards the car-

And they're coming closer-

But the car won't start-

"HURRY!" Rachel squeals.

Just as Finn closes the door, the men reach in and drag Finn out of the car. Finn doesn't have the strength to pull himself in, Ben, Lily and Rachel grab onto his arms and pulls Finn in again.

But the men-

They just keep grabbing onto his feet-

Finn can see Lily and Rachel's face twisted in the effort they are putting in, it's a life or death tug of war which the men can only win.

Suddenly, a blur of brown rushes pass Finn.

It's Quarterback-

Finn's dog's paws brush passes his legs as he jumps down next to the men.

Quarterback jumps out of the car and bites down hard on the necks of two of the men. They drop on the floor and Rachel sees the blood gush out of the bite holes on their throats.

Quarterback looks at the last of the men with murderous wolf eyes and leaps on him, he sinks his teeth into the man's arm and continues to snarl his teeth at him. Finn gets pulled in and he falls on top of Rachel. The car starts and Finn turns back to see that Quarterback is losing against the man.

"QUARTERBACK!" Finn yells and bangs his hands against his bloody thigh.

His dog looks up to see Finn calling his name-

This is where the man takes his chance, he grabs Quarterback by the scruff and Finn knows he is too big to get lifted off the ground by his neck.

"Finn, get back here." The man says calmly, which is even scarier than him shouting.

Quarterback yelps in pain and tries to get his head around to bite the man's hand.

"Let him go, he's mine." Finn yells and Rachel restrains him.

Quarterback whines and looks at Finn.

"LET HIM GO!"

"Rachel or the dog, Finn. Your choice."

Ten second goes by in a flash. Finn shakes his head to stop the spinning and stares at his dog. The dog that has been with him ever since he refused Ben's ride, the dog that showed him the way towards Rachel. The dog that defended him from the men with the stick and the dog that bounced out of the car to save Finn's life.

"I'll fucking kill you." Finn whispers

"Last chance Hudson, the girl or your dog."

Finn looks at Rachel and she looks into his light brown eyes.

"I'm so sorry Quarterback." Ben sighs a very sad sigh at Finn's decision and drives away slowly. Finn keeps apologising to Quarterback through an open window. The man laughs.

Finn can hear Quarterback bark a confused bark as he watches Finn leave.

"Quarterback!"

The man reveals his torn hand towards Finn's dog.

"QUARTERBACK!"

Bark-

The man wrenches his arm and a massive crack echoes through the night that tears Finn's heart into pieces. Finn sees his dog fall to the ground limply before the man blacks out from the blood loss of his ripped hand.

…

_Life isn't meant to be this sad…it's meant to be joyful…it's meant to be a gift…do other people experience what he's experiencing…or is he just unlucky….Spinning…spinning…I found Rachel….Cement House…Haunted…the men….they all died…Quarterback…..Quarterback….your girl or the dog…Spinning….you're Finn Hudson….you belong in jail….I belong in jail…I'm a murderer…Quarterback…I was meant to adopt him…the girl…blood._

Finn wakes up-

He's in a white bed, under a very hot cover in a square room with equipment. He hears a toilet flush and he gently moves his head towards the sound. He lifts his aching arms towards his head and feels a bandage wrapped around it.

Finn can't feel his legs, he reaches downwards and feels another bandage on his leg- from where the…something…went in?

A door opens and a person walks out.

"Finn!"

Finn's still to groggy to make his own mouth move and call out her name but all he can do is think it. Rachel.

She looks clean and so does he, the cuts on his arms have either healed or covered up with bandages. There's no dirt or muck on him anymore.

"I told them." Rachel says,

Finn frowns and opens his mouth to talk but his throat is so dry that he starts to cough. Rachel pours him a glass of water and helps Finn to drink.

"Who?"

"The police."

"About?"

"The men silly. You're off the hook, everyone now knows that you weren't the one that killed the girl back in December."

"How?"

Rachel smiles and jumps from her seat, she walks over to her bag and pulls out her phone. She opens up her recorder app and turns up the volume on her phone.

"_Back in December 2009, you interrupted something and we framed you for it." _

_You went to jail and when you came out you wanted to tell everyone that you were innocent and it was our fault."_

"I recorded the men when they were talking and I played it for the police to hear along with Ben and Lily."

Finn remembers seeing Rachel press something in her pocket, she was recording the men's confessions.

"I love you." Finn says and Rachel lifts her head.

"Me too." She smiles and sits on the chair next to him.

"How long have I been asleep for?"

"A couple of days."

"Really?"

"You were sick. I mean _really_ sick. The doctors were rushing you in and out of the ER every day."

"Where are we?"

"The Lima Memorial Hospital." Rachel slowly opens the curtains to let Finn see the sign outside their window.

"Wait, we're back in Lima?"

"Ben and Lily took turns to drive us back home, we drove after-"

Finn then remembers his dog Quarterback, he throat clenches up. Finn can still hear Quarterback's barks so clearly in his head.

"I got you a present." Rachel opens up a plastic bag and hands Finn a blue box with a ribbon.

"I know Christmas is in a couple of days, this is one of the presents I got for you." She says and rests her head on her hands as Finn opens it.

Finn lifts up the box and sees a dog tag with Quarterback's name on it. He smiles and holds it in his hands.

"I know that you were probably going to adopt Quarterback, so I made something that would show people that he was a saviour and your dog."

Finn wraps the collar around his hands and kisses Rachel.

"What about you? Are you okay?" Finn asks and Rachel checks her arms and bandaged fingers.

"Yeah, the doctor said I was fine: I was just dehydrated."

"Did they do anything to you back in the house?"

"They locked me in a dark room and would bang on the door and scrape their nails on a chalk board. You know: those stupid mind games."

"I'm glad we're safe." Finn says and holds onto Rachel's hand

"Yeah, me too."

…

Finn strips off his hospital gown and pulls down his blue checked shirt, he stares at the bed: all of the sweat and sickness have seeped down into the mattress and Finn is happy to be leaving the hospital.

Finn sees Ben reading the newspaper and stands next to him with his duffel bag.

"Finn! Good to see that you're well."

"Yeah, you too."

"Come on, let's go. Rachel's waiting downstairs."

They step into the lift and step out into the lobby, he sees Rachel sitting with Lily and he waves at them. Rachel smiles and flutters her eyes at him.

"Finn Hudson."

The receptionist marks his name off and he is finally discharged from hospital. Rachel holds Finn's hand and they settle into Ben and Lily's car.

"Where to boss?" Ben asks

"My house." Rachel replies and Ben gives her two thumbs up.

Ben pulls into the driveway of Rachel's house and climbs out of the car with Lily.

Ben walks up to Finn and places his old, wrinkly hand on Finn's shoulder.

"So this is it." Ben starts

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry about Quarterback."

"Thankyou."

Ben lifts his head

"Thankyou, for everything you did for Rachel and I. I really appreciate everything, if I can owe you anything I will."

Ben pulls Finn closer and hugs him.

"I heard from Rachel that you don't have a family. Lily and I talked last night and we would be happy to be your guardians if you want. You can come to us if you need a place to crash."

Finn nods and returns a hug, Lily comes over and kisses Finn on the cheek.

"Nice to meet you Finn."

The couple hugs Rachel before driving towards their home.

"The house looks fixed." Finn says as he steps onto the front steps.

"Yeah, my dads have always invested in insurance."

"Yes, we have."

The door swings open and Leroy stands at the doorway. Rachel's eyes widen and she hugs her dad with no hesitation.

"I thought you died." Rachel sobs into her dad's shoulder.

"I did, but Hiram wasn't so lucky." He looks down at the floor and Finn can see a tear form on the corner of his eye.

"I guess the men were half bluffing."

"Finn, you saved my girl." Leroy turns to Finn.

"Um."

"Calm down kid, you're off the hook. I know you didn't kill the girl." Finn twists his head and stares at Leroy. "Come here Finn." Rachel's dad swings his arms and embraces Finn.

"I'm sorry for thinking you were a murderer."

Finn nods and looks at Rachel.

…

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Finn rolls over to see Rachel on the bed looking at him.

"It's morning."

"Yeah."

"We can choose if we want to go to school or not."

"I have nothing better to do."

"Alright, let's go."

…

Everyone looks at Finn but in a rather good way this time. Finn twists his combination in the locker when he feels a hand tap his shoulder; he turns around to see Puck standing behind him.

"What do you want?" Finn asks

"Before you bite my head off, can I just say that I'm sorry?"

Finn blinks rapidly.

"Wha?-"

"I'm your best friend! I should've fucking know that you were innocent. You have no idea how fucking stupid I felt when I heard that you didn't kill the girl."

"Really?"

"You can whoop my sad ass if you want to."

"Nah, I'll save that for another time." Finn jokes and Puck smirks.

"I heard about what you went through with the men, you know at Fort Wayne."

"It goes to show how fast news travel around the school."

"Yeah." Puck runs a hand down his mow hawk. "So, everything's back to the way they were?"

"Guess so."

"Can I walk with you to Glee practice?"

Finn nods and they make their way into the choir room.

"Finn's back yo!" Artie screams and everyone surrounds him and apologises about their behaviour.

"We really had no idea."

"We're really sorry Finn."

"Yea, if we could make it up to you-"

"No, it's fine. Really."

Finn sits next to Rachel and lifts his eyebrows at her.

"I told you that everyone would be kicking themselves when they know the truth."

…

The end of bell rings, Finn swings his bag and bumps in Rachel.

"Oh hey."

"I have a surprise for you."


	14. Where do i begin?

The Hands of a Murderer

"What? What surprise? I've got football practice."

"Just, follow me."

Rachel walks pass Finn and pushes the exit doors. Finn furrows his brows and grabs his football duffel before following Rachel out of the school.

Rachel stops outside a bus stop and leans against a sign.

"I have no idea what's going on and it's not in a cool 'Inception' kind of way." Finn says and sits on a bench next to Rachel. She doesn't say anything. 

"Would you mind telling me why we are here? Next to a road?"

Rachel still doesn't speak.

"Could you give me a hint?"

Finn sees Rachel open her mouth to speak but she closes it again.

"If I gave you a hint, it wouldn't be a surprise."

Finn scratches his head and bends over on the seat and clasps his hands together.

"Rachel, if this is a joke-"

"It's not." She chuckles at Finn's impatience and wraps her arms together from the cold.

Finn fiddles with Quarterback's tag, he hadn't taken it off since the hospital. If only he took a picture of his dog with his phone, Finn hopes that he never forgets Quarterback's face.

"It's really cold." Finn says and he can see his breath in the air. He tightens Hiram's jacket and pulls his beanie from his pockets. Finn fishes in his bags for gloves when a car horn screeches in front of him.

Finn looks up to see a person inside pull on the brakes and another person unlocking the door.

He twists his head to see who it is-

No freaking way-

"Mom." Finn calls out but his voice is a whisper. Carole shuts the car door and walks towards Finn: her face twisted in an effort not to cry. Burt follows her and stands in front of Finn.

"You've never stood _this_ close to me befor-" Before Finn could finish his sentence, Carole pulls him in suddenly: nearly knocking Finn off his feet. She wraps her arms around Finn's body and squeezes him.

Finn winces when his mom comes into contact with the tender part of his stomach, those damn punches from the men created a large bruise on his torso. But he doesn't care, this is the touch that he yearned for and he isn't going to let pain cut it short.

Finn closes his eyes and rolls his head towards the crook of Carole's neck.

"I'm so sorry, my darling boy."

Finn can feel his face start to become warm and his eyes start to water

Finn starts to cry, the warm tears stream down his face but he doesn't wipe them. He doesn't want this hug to end-

Carole reaches up and grips on Finn's hair.

"I'm so sorry Finn."

"I-It's okay mom."

Finally, Carole pulls away but she still holds Finn's hands. She looks at Finn and pinches his face.

Burt comes closer to Finn and gently rests his hand on his shoulders before giving him a brief hug.

Carole trails her eyes from Finn's messy hair to his freckles to his deep dimples and to a purple bruise on his neck.

"What happened Finn?" Carole asks: her heart wrenching with sorrow and grief at her abandonment.

"Well, where do I begin?"

Rachel walks towards Finn and links her arm in his.

"I kinda want to hear this." Burt says and sits down on the bench along with Finn, Rachel and Carole.

"It's kinda a long story."

"We have time."

Finn knows that he has missed his football practice, but running laps and doing drills isn't exactly fun in the cold. But Finn knows that Coach Beiste will understand, he smiles and returns back to Carole and Burt.

"Well Rachel and I jumped off a cliff-"

…

The End :(

Thanks for all my readers and reviewers, it was really nice to read the comments! I love you guys.

So, I hope you have a Merry Christmas! See you next year! :)


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